“Two little lines I heard one day,Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill, living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way, Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Give me Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Oh let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say,”Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last. ”
C.T Studd
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Blind man and me
Not only was Christ our righteousness, but he had to earn it. The reason Jesus couldn't die as a baby for our sins was that while he hadn't sinned, he didn't yet have meritorious works- the kind of things that we are commanded to do. The reason we get righteousness credited to us is because he actually accumulated righteousness on the earth.
What does this mean but that as he withstands temptation (Mt 4), he withstands it for you and me. He does what Adam, you and I fail to do and he does it so that it will later be credited to us as righteousness.
As he loves and has compassion on the men and women around him, he does what we are commanded (not suggested) to do. He does it perfectly so that at the cross he can give his righteousness to us as a free gift.
You'd think that maybe Jesus' mind isn't just on the blind or lame person in front of him. I wonder if at some point his mind wanders to believers who would come after him, already longing for us to be in relationship with him, to be able to join him in heaven. At the same time, he considers that we're feeble sinners. So he needs to love, heal, and care for the men and women around him so that his love and good deeds can be credited to us. We can have peace with God without a righteousness of our own.
Hm. As he loves the blind man he is loving us. In his mind is not only the man in front of him but the sinner in Minnesota two thousand years later that he loves and wants to be in relationship with.
What does this mean but that as he withstands temptation (Mt 4), he withstands it for you and me. He does what Adam, you and I fail to do and he does it so that it will later be credited to us as righteousness.
As he loves and has compassion on the men and women around him, he does what we are commanded (not suggested) to do. He does it perfectly so that at the cross he can give his righteousness to us as a free gift.
You'd think that maybe Jesus' mind isn't just on the blind or lame person in front of him. I wonder if at some point his mind wanders to believers who would come after him, already longing for us to be in relationship with him, to be able to join him in heaven. At the same time, he considers that we're feeble sinners. So he needs to love, heal, and care for the men and women around him so that his love and good deeds can be credited to us. We can have peace with God without a righteousness of our own.
Hm. As he loves the blind man he is loving us. In his mind is not only the man in front of him but the sinner in Minnesota two thousand years later that he loves and wants to be in relationship with.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
For God alone my soul waits in silence
The last few weeks have been spiritually difficult and dry. In many ways, I've felt isolated. I've been working the weekend night shift which means that my sleep schedule is wacky. This throws my moods into a bit of a tumult as I do much better with a consistent sleep schedule. Also, I'm just not sure if I've felt really loved a ton. I mean, yeah there's been some people around me and maybe even people who have told me they loved me, but nothing that can match the longings of this heart and soul.
While I've had the chance to meet up with people, talk about life, love and the Lord, I just don't know if I've felt any consistent "We're-here-for-each-other-ness" with anyone. I feel like I have a wide span of isolated friendships and maybe not a solid support network.
I want to feel like I'm on mission with people, working for something bigger than and outside of ourselves. I want to feel like I'm loved for who I am and that I bring something of value.
Then, in my mood, in my loneliness, in my spiritual dryness, I take and read.
For God alone my soul waits in silence (Psalm 62:1)
God alone
It's really easy to look for external things to quench the thirst of my soul. Maybe if I keep busy, sleep more, hang out with friends, have more fun, read more bible, share my faith more, go out for some beers, entertain myself, get a great girlfriend
THEN things will be good.
The truth is that all these things are good and might even be the means by which God fills our souls, but at the bottom of everything, it is "only God" and not our actions or decisions that save our soul from shriveling. We are all humble beggars at the feet of the Lord. We have nothing to leverage and we cannot make God do a thing. This is no less than dependence and depending on how deeply we've swallowed the illusion of human autonomy, this can be a hard thing to take.
Sometimes it takes having good things and still feeling empty to come to the horrible fact that we cannot revive our own soul.
"There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them..."
(Ecclesiastes 6:1-3 ESV)
No friendship, girl, book, food, experience, words, bible verse, sermon, entertainment, conversation, financial situation, or job will make me feel whole. These can at most be means. At the bottom of everything, it truly is God alone and this is the thrust of the psalm.
my soul
As a proviso, some people don't feel spiritual hunger. In the physical world, there also people who don't need to be fed. Why? Because they're dead. Ephesians talks about men and women who haven't experienced God as being spiritually dead. Now I think the soul with a dead spirit has cries of its own, but for now we're dealing with someone who is spiritually alive.
The soul is the deepest part of who we are. If all outward appearances are good, yet the soul is starved, you're probably feeling like our man from Ecclesiastes. How do we forget this part of us? The remarkable reality is that the converse is also true. If all else is crashing around us, yet our soul is experiencing life, love, wonder, and all the other things that go along with God being near, we will be happy- happier than the man who has "it all" but who has lost track of his maker and purpose.
waits
What if I pray and I don't feel all better? What if I read my bible and nothing magic happens?
Wait.
It is not "He has not come", but "He has not come yet". Wait, my brothers and sisters- and if he does not come, keep waiting, keep listening.
in silence
So I'm a bit of a mystic maybe but here's what I like to do. I like to pour out my heart to God- in writing. Thinking is circular, speaking is a little better, but writing is linear and allows you to be clear in your thoughts, feelings and prayers before God. It helps you get it all out there. Write with your heart, not with your head. And then when every crevice of my heart has been poured out, every frustration voiced, every thought and counter thought explored... I listen.
I just sit there, let thoughts come in and go out and bring my focus back to listening to the Father. What is the Lord telling to my head? To my heart? This isn't a 4 minute exercise. Give yourself time- however long it takes to literally let "your soul wait for God in silence."
Man, I haven't done this in awhile.
Come, Lord. I need to know you- to experience you, to taste and see that you're good. My faith is faith- it's not a feeling, but that is why I wait. Let me drink deeply of your grace and love.
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
(Psalm 63:1-8 ESV)
Saturday, August 28, 2010
AN Wilson - A life lived on both sides
Just came across this guy's story. Pretty cool.
AN Wilson's Faith Journey
AN Wilson's Faith Journey
Angel from Montgomery
This song seems to sink down to the bones It's like the song was always there- it just took a guy named John Prine to unearth it for the rest of us.
The thorniness of talking about creation
Evolution.
With one word, you can inspire more feelings than nearly any word other than God. For some noteable atheist biologists it might inspire worship. For Christians, it may spawn feelings anywhere from anger, to passive indifference to fear.
For a beginner to the study of origins, it's felt a lot like walking into a bar in the middle of a massive fight. In some sense, there's two teams whacking each other over the heads with chairs, but as you look closer, there's some people whose team is indistinguishable. When you look even closer there's animosity within the teams themselves. It's clear that the issues run deep. Even this past week, two very influential Christian leaders got very heated about this. There are many personal and philosophical issues at stake.
There are SO many issues related with this topic. Here are a few that I've run into:
1. Faith and Reason
2. Materialism and Supernaturalism
3. Living with mystery - I've found this is really hard for me- it's SUPER SUPER hard for me to take things on faith. Prov. 3:5 does not come easy for Brett Ripley
3. Biblical interpretation - most notably, items specific to genre and Hebrew.
4. The nature of science - Is ID science?
5. The age of the earth - billions or thousands
6. The reality that informed Christians hold sometimes radically different views on nearly every issue involved.
It's enough to fill a mind and then some. I'm trying to process all the new info well and remain cool and level-headed. Blogging it all out helps :)
With one word, you can inspire more feelings than nearly any word other than God. For some noteable atheist biologists it might inspire worship. For Christians, it may spawn feelings anywhere from anger, to passive indifference to fear.
For a beginner to the study of origins, it's felt a lot like walking into a bar in the middle of a massive fight. In some sense, there's two teams whacking each other over the heads with chairs, but as you look closer, there's some people whose team is indistinguishable. When you look even closer there's animosity within the teams themselves. It's clear that the issues run deep. Even this past week, two very influential Christian leaders got very heated about this. There are many personal and philosophical issues at stake.
There are SO many issues related with this topic. Here are a few that I've run into:
1. Faith and Reason
2. Materialism and Supernaturalism
3. Living with mystery - I've found this is really hard for me- it's SUPER SUPER hard for me to take things on faith. Prov. 3:5 does not come easy for Brett Ripley
3. Biblical interpretation - most notably, items specific to genre and Hebrew.
4. The nature of science - Is ID science?
5. The age of the earth - billions or thousands
6. The reality that informed Christians hold sometimes radically different views on nearly every issue involved.
It's enough to fill a mind and then some. I'm trying to process all the new info well and remain cool and level-headed. Blogging it all out helps :)
Friday, August 27, 2010
On Friends and Fellows
Lately I've been discovering the difference between hanging out and fellowship... and what a difference it is. I just wonder how much time we Christians spend together just goofing off and talking about the same stuff everyone else is talking about.
Doesn't the Way, the path marked out for us, the Cultural Mandate, the Great commission, our sin, our Savior, our soul, our personal relationship with our father, our corporate relationship with him, our common brother/sisterhood in Christ garner enough to talk about?
Can't you just imagine where our souls would be if we were "fellowshiping" regularly? What if we were bringing the gospel, bringing Scripture to bear on our problems, on our jobs, on our families and relationships? Think of the healing, the deep fellowship with God, the deep understanding of his love, and the confidence of faith we would have. It would really make us new people.
I recognize that a small part of fellowship is just goofing off with one another, but it appears that we have taken that small chunk and let it become the whole. What percentage of my time with fellow Christians is in prayer, in studying the Word, in bringing the Christian worldview to bear on the issues of our day, in applying Scripture to our lives? It's gross!
In my life, it seems like I need to demarcate when is "Christian" time and when is "live lukewarm" time. Many are perfectly ok with this sacred/secular split in their lives. I can't do that.
God, would you set me free to be a whole person- a single personality? Help me to follow you in this area. The gospel gives me confidence in cutting against the grain- I'm already accepted in the eyes of you, my Father, so if people see me as strange so be it. Instead of my own feeble love, help me point people to Christ- to the cross. Instead of my own advice which seems so damn smart to me sometimes, help me point people to Scripture. Forgive me for my failing to obey in this way. Lord, help me to be receptive to your Spirit as I try to engage in real fellowship.
Doesn't the Way, the path marked out for us, the Cultural Mandate, the Great commission, our sin, our Savior, our soul, our personal relationship with our father, our corporate relationship with him, our common brother/sisterhood in Christ garner enough to talk about?
Can't you just imagine where our souls would be if we were "fellowshiping" regularly? What if we were bringing the gospel, bringing Scripture to bear on our problems, on our jobs, on our families and relationships? Think of the healing, the deep fellowship with God, the deep understanding of his love, and the confidence of faith we would have. It would really make us new people.
I recognize that a small part of fellowship is just goofing off with one another, but it appears that we have taken that small chunk and let it become the whole. What percentage of my time with fellow Christians is in prayer, in studying the Word, in bringing the Christian worldview to bear on the issues of our day, in applying Scripture to our lives? It's gross!
In my life, it seems like I need to demarcate when is "Christian" time and when is "live lukewarm" time. Many are perfectly ok with this sacred/secular split in their lives. I can't do that.
God, would you set me free to be a whole person- a single personality? Help me to follow you in this area. The gospel gives me confidence in cutting against the grain- I'm already accepted in the eyes of you, my Father, so if people see me as strange so be it. Instead of my own feeble love, help me point people to Christ- to the cross. Instead of my own advice which seems so damn smart to me sometimes, help me point people to Scripture. Forgive me for my failing to obey in this way. Lord, help me to be receptive to your Spirit as I try to engage in real fellowship.
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