The Reason for the Season.

At work I hear alot of Goespel music, one of the songs that I really like is 911 by Kirk Franklen teaturing T.D. Jakes. There is a simple reason for me liking this song the chorus, sung by Jakes goes: "See that's the reason for this song Wherever you go there's something ya got to know (God still cares) (weeping may endure for a night) And he told me to tell you (everything's gon' be alright)." What's the reason for the song? It's God's love for each of us. His love is what keeps us strong. It's not only the reason for us to sing in hard times and the good times. His love is the reason for this season.

Long ago, an angel appeared to a virgin in a no account town of Nazereth. That humble young woman was named Mary. She said yes to God's purposal to her and through her to all humanity. Because she said yes, God came into the world. The child's name was Jesus "God is with us." God came into the world to change it and save it. When Jesus comes into our heart then we can never be the same. On a side note, the seperation of Church and state is an absurd idea for this very reason. When a person truly has faith then it will form their very being permunating them totally. That is one of the many errors of our day, that you can leave faith on Sunday morning. But I think I will rant about that after the holidays. Even though the materialism that has become Christmas, which our belover Holy Father warns against, comes from this same veiw. To bring Christmas back to Christ will be a challenge that every Christian must undertake. It must start with their own heart and daily life. Society has taken Christ out of Christmas, making it into X-mas or the Holidays. Without Christ it becomes about gifts. Growing up my family was very poor, we had more of a Christ center in Christmas and not on gifts because we simply did not have them to recieve. So we recieved the one thing that we could recieve (at least this was true for me, I cannot speak for my siblings). God came into my life and we did what we could. Without Christ then we lose the reason for the season or the reason for the song. Bring Christ back into Christmas comming to know Him, serve Him and love Him. Not because He gives us anything, simply because He loves us then we can truly love others. Love shows us the way and the reason we sing. We are surprised by Joy because we become the cup over flowing with Love when we love God. God's love for us is the reason for the season, Christmas comes before Easter but always points to it. Our hope at Christmas is in the Easter sacrfice.

Not a tame Lion...

By now I'm guessing everyone has seen Narnia, so I am going to put down some thoughts on it all. In the movie the words I am going to write about are spoken by Mr. Tumnas, but in the book they are said by Mr Beaver. "He'll drop in. Only don't press him. He's wild you know. Not like a tame lion." There is so much truth in those words. Aslan operates on this own time table. We can not force him to make any changes to His plans. He will always come and go as He pleases, never doing as we want, but always doing what He knows to be best for us all. The Great Lion will always do what is best for His kingdom. You can never predict what Aslan will do next or where He will show up. He demands nothing less of us then everything. He takes us as we are, as He did to the children, molding us into Kings and Queens. That's what the saints are Kings and Queens in Heaven.

Aslan says to us all, "You must come to know me now by another name in your world." All of us must come to realize that Aslan is Christ. His other name is the name above all other names to which all knees will bend (Phl. 2:19). Everything about Aslan can be said about Christ, since they are one. Christ is not tame by any means. Anyone who reads the Beatitudes without fear and trembling is a fool. We can get through the Ten commandments batting at least 500. But in the Beatitudes no matter who we are our batting average goes to nothing. Because then adultry, for example, becomes "That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matt. 5:28). That is a conviction to us all, if that one doesn't get us something else in there will. Christ wants us to become His little children, His precious ones. Aslan is away for us to know Christ, but we must make the crossover into our world from Narnia. Just as we must not leave Christ in the Church on Sunday morning. He wants the whole of our life, not just an hour or so a day. Are you willing to give it? Does it scare you? It should scare you. Become a King or Queen nothing less then this is demanded of you. If you do not want to be a King or Queen it is because you do not fully want to be (a paraphrase of William Law's statment about becomming saints). The Lion's roar will ring loud and true in your life if you open your ears to hear.

So I just found this funny.

This is what happens when Christmas meets
finals. Hang in there everyone.

Guiding Light

In case it has been forgotten I write about whatever is on my mind at the time that I sit down and write my post. My mind has been occupied as of late with choices and guidence to making choices. We make choices based upon our experiences, morals, the advice of other people in our life and faith. I will address each of these individually. First our experinces, are the basic way we learn about our surrounding world. We learn through our senses and the intellect's inturpetation of the information gathered. How we act in regards to this information is what forms the concious. It is very easy to misform the concouience without a guide that is outside of the person to guide it. This guide is morality and faith. These two go hand in hand. It is very difficult to have true morals without faith, because for morality to be true it must have something outside of humanity. So upon what do we build morality. A morality that cannot be false, but always true and applecable in any situation. True morality is not just word typed in a blog or written in a book. If you want to know what a person's moral standing is, simply look at there life. It is near impossible to know enough about a person to make this judgment, because an unfortuante effect of the fall of man is that we hide our faults all to well. Many people are two faced and hide behind a mask, I know this all to well. I did it for many years, I try not to know but it is a hard struggle. When those two faces are exposed to the world then the inconsistence is eliminated due to the fact that when an inconsitancy rises it needs to be illimintaed. We must move towards the good, we all long for the good, the true and the beautiful. These are the sign posts that we are moving in the right direction and those around us are helping us to move to the ultimate good which is God. If someone is not helping us to move towards these goals then can they really be called friend? If they are hidding a face from the world, trying to appear upright and proper on one side of the street while on the other side of the street they drink, party, make out (i choose this broad term very intentionally) and do many other things that do not lead a soul to Heaven. Is this person really for the spiritual benefit or even the physical benifit of a person? One of the hardest things that we can ever do is say good-bye to someone we have called a close friend, it takes and intentional choice on our part to do this. It is very hard to do, there is a reason why I don't have many friends from my 'past' life. I let them go. But there is somthing that is important in guiding us to make this choice. A trusted person who this can be discussed with. Ideally a spiritual director if possible. If that is not possible a trusted friend who you have already recognized to be wise. The first step to that is just outright someone who is willing to listen and not give answers or be a fix-it person for you (If you want proof of this, look in the book of Proverbs about the importance of silence and listening). This person is the one who will be a light to us, but we must choose wisly who this is. They can bring us to light but just as easily if not easier they can lead us into a firie pit. All of our choices ultimatly must be weighed against the will of God revealed in His word and through His servant the Church. The biggest key is know yourself as you are before God. Do not worry about people, the only opinion that matters is God's thoughts about you.

A short aside though, there are somethings that a iron resolve must be made about before we are ever in that situation. For example, how far is to far when it comes to relations with another person. I will expand on what I mean by this example through my own life. I will not kiss anyone again until I am engaged to them. I made this choice because even a simple kiss can lead my mind into areas of thought and fantisy that are sinful. Since I knew that this is what happens to me personallyI've made this choice, but it also leads to a greater good of learning self control and the ablity to show love in other ways. This blog has gotten alot more personal in regards to how my mind works. I hope all of this makes some semblance of sense to anyone who read it, it'll make even more for those who know me best.

In the Darkness

No night was ever as dark as one that happened two thousand years ago. The night, it was an illeagal night trial, when all of humanity did the most huredous thing possible: we put God Incarnet on trial. What right do we have to put God in the dock? We made ourselves greater then Jesus, the very Word of God among us, by saying you are wrong and a sinner. Never in that night did humanity realize that the one standing to be judged is the one true Judge of the living and the dead. But in humility Christ stood and listened to His accusers, never raising His voice or weilding His power, because He was doing the will of the Father. He was to bring about the greatest event in human history the redemption of humaity. The very next day after this all night trial, Christ was put to death. This was so horrible that the Sun could not even look upon it and the very stones cried out through an earthquake. No time has ever been as bleek as this, the Incarnate God head was dead. Something greater than anything imaginable happened because of this dark night. Christ rose from the dead and showed that death is not the end of the road but only the beginning of our true life with God. So when things are the darkest in your life know that God is forming you and preparing you for something greater. Suffering and pain are what we must go through inorder to be refined as pure gold. When we do not 'feel' God's prescence in our life is when He is doing the greatest work. In times that seem so dark that we will never live through them or lose our faith, think back to that day two thousand years ago when the Sun covered its eyes and we killed God. Something great is on the horizen that we cannot see. Perserver in faith and trust God.

The Garden

In the tradition of Dante's Divine Comedy and C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce another author wrote a story about a journey through the afterlife. This author is the Micheal Phillips, an evangelical Christian and his book is called The Garden on the Edge of Beyond. It is in the context of a dream that he had that this takes place. It is a journey through a flower garden to see the different people who would be met there to help him be able to see God more fully. For him this takes place in a flower garden, since he has a great love of flowers and all growing things. He finds that each new and unique bloom that he finds is the work he has done for Christ in his life. How each soul reacts to him shows itself in a particular bloom some beautyiful to look at and smell as a rose is. But others are hideous in look and smell as a skunk weed is to most people, these are his sins. Each part of the garden will react differently to the person present in it. In one section the ground becomes as waves in the ocean crashing onto the shore, this is due to his guide. His guide is none other then C.S. Lewis. He also finds out that for Lewis this place was not a garden but a library filled with books each needing to be read and opened to find what was there. Just as each flower needs to be smelled in order to undergo the change that the bloom represnts, so his soul may become more wholly real. It is the process of becoming real that is important. A work that can be begun in the world through how we live and the honor we do to God. But this work will never be complete here, only after our life is ended can we find ourself totally. We must work towards it, so we can see God quickly after we die. What will your garden look like? What smells will be there? Will it be pleasent to be in or will it be bleek and dark as the world of Mordor? Start planting the seeds now and they will bloom in eternity. Live for Christ and be a light to the world. A beautiful fragrance to all who come across your path.

In fear of purity...

Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Mt. 5:8, RSV). There is a conviction in the idea that it is possible to see God at all. The fallen nature prevents us from seeing the face of our Maker or even to realize that He exists. But when we search our heart we come to realize that we do not know who we are. We hide from ourself in all the escapse we build into our daily life. They range from video games, to ads, to pointless books that do not add to our growth, to TV and in the end all of them are to keep us from knowing God.

In knowing ourselves we will find ourselves longing for something deeper. Finding that we cannot know ourselves fully. There is a peice missing that we cannot find in this world. We can try to put anything we want into it; drink, sex, drugs of verious kinds, money, games, TV or whatever else. But nothing at all will fill the void in our life. So is it worth the bother to even avoid these things? Yes, by far it is; because it is in comming to know oneself that we become free. So to fight for purity is one of the first steps in finding out who we are. So blessed are those people who have never had to struggle with it. They are at such an advantage over those who struggle with these lusts. In the end purity will lead us to know that God is there and give us courage to come before God seeking Him. In seeking Him we find that He is the only one that will fill our heart and show us who we are. Christ is after all the one true man in history. God will show us our face so that we may see His face. His face will purify us totally. The most we can do is search, all of the rest is in God's grace. Grace is always available to us, so the choice is ours to seek Him out. Let's get started. Let us go and seek God our King and Maker.

this is fun....is it true of your loved one?

So I am an Ent

Entish


To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

In fear of grace...

We are but mere slikworms, crawling through the world. Fattening ourselves up on worldly things. We fear building a cacoon because we do not know the change that will cause in us. The cacoon of penence, love, obedeince, spiritual readings and anything else that will lead us to God. Within these sliken strands God works His merciful grace on the soul. We fear this because once the change occurs in us then things can never be the same. The ugly worm can never again be a worm because it has become something much greater and more beautiful. Even if the thransformation in the soul is ony for a brief time then it is never able to remain as it was. The will of many who this grace has been given is to hide the change that has occured. But then has the change really occured? Yes it has, it's beauty cannot be hidden in a real sense. The grace given by penence and the transformation of the soul will forever be shinning through the defense erected. As William Law put it in A Serious Call, "The only reason that we are not saints is that we do not fully want to be." We do not want to become butterflies in God's creation, calling others to become as He intends us to be. God wants us to become saints who shine for the world, so lets get on with it and do what must be done in our souls. To give ones' self fully to God is the scariest thing in the world, because He will take it all and change it. We are afraid of Him, because what is said of Aslan is true of God. "He is not a tame lion but a wild lion who goes about as He will." A wild lion who will do with us as He pleases when we give ourself over to Him. So let us enter into the cacoon and die to ourself, so we may live for the King.

Jumping into the water to fast.

It is a strange day when you start to feel like a jump into a cold lake would be a good thing. I have friends who like to jump into Lake Superior in early Febuary, are tehy out of their minds? If you knew them you would say no or at least not totally. But there is another kind of jumping that is even more dangerous that is jumping into a lake that can lead to fire. Not just any old fire but a fire that is eternal. If you do not think and just jump, you can end up with one of two things either a leap of faith or a leap in eternal fire. Those are the consequences of our choices, there is no middle road, contrary to what some may the middle road does not lead to purgatory. When a leap does not get guided by reality and true judgment the choice becomes a mistake and leads into the pit. This does not really mean jumping into actual lakes, which can just be a flat out bad idea, but rushing into life. The blindness the demons put into us, through sin, will make us unable to what the future holds. When an act of faith is an act that puts trust in God's providence but blances on the a fine line of free will and grace. We cannot think that God will simply act and without us. But we must choose. Jumping before we pray and think is never safe. Even more so is jumping before we know our faces, as in who we are in God's eyes. We can do that in this life. So to jump or not to jump is not really the question. The question is do I know who I am or not, and based on that is the truth of what lies ahead. The demons cannot keep us from searching for who we are because the light is beyond anything that they can control. If you can figure out who this is intended for and what it means great, because I don't know.

Are any of us really shocked by this....

You Are A: Frog!

Independent yet still part of a large community, frogs are unique creatures known for their distinctive sound and ability to hop. As a frog, you spend your days sitting on lily pads or climbing trees, searching for delicious insects to eat. While there are some frogs that aren't exactly cute, you are certainly not one of those!

You were almost a: Kitten or a Monkey
You are least like a: Groundhog or a DucklingCute Animal Test!

We should not be surprised by this at all. My tounge isn't very long though. Bugs with chocolate are really good though. All things considered I m alive and midterms are over. BUt we will see as we get grades back from them.

A Fire from Within.

All fire comes from within a person. Each person experiences winds and and passions that always come from within. No fire can be brought about by something outside of a person. For a person to be inflamed about something they must first have a spark within them about what has gotten us going. The spark that ignites the fire cannot comme from outside otherwise it will fizzile out. Try lighting wet wood on fire sometime to find out what I mean. A fire of dry wood or dried wood does not ignite because a spark is put to the side of it. It ignites because the spark is inside of wood and burns through the wood. The same is true of the human spirit, a spark put up to it does not light us on fire. But when that fire is allowed into our hearts it will burn from inside out and give off a light that is unmistakable. A light that will cause others to ask what is different about this person and get them to ask waht do they have that I do not. It is through these questions that the whole world will become a light and a blaze. What we set the fire for us our choice....we can either allow a flame of truth to work its way through us or we can stifle it. The choice is ours. How do we want the world to change? That is up to us all, but must first start with each and everyone of us inside. But this is enough musings for now.