무릇 징계가 당시에는 즐거워 보이지 않고 슬퍼 보이나 그로 말미암아 연단한 자에게는의의 평강한 열매를 맺나니. (히 12:11)
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)
O break my heart; but break it as a field
Is by the plough up-broken for the corn;
O break it as the buds, by green leaf seated,
Are, to unloose the golden blossom, torn;
Love would I offer unto Love's great Master,
Set free the odor, break the alabaster.
(Thomas Toke Bunch)
I've believed a lie. So subtly that Enemy crept up and quietly suggested that I am alone; that even God, who knows and loves me best, has little concern for how I feel or what I want. Oh, foolish that I believed it, but I did! Though my mind struggled against it, I kept it in my heart. The truth is, I am never alone! There is One who always sits with me, walks beside me, works along with me. He is Jesus. He is always with me, and I am never alone.
Sometimes God's discipline is hard, but let us take care to remember that it is never harsh. He is gentle, with a heart that is the origin of the ideas of "father" and "mother". Though He disciplines, he is tender-hearted. He not only pities us - he created us and loves us and seeks our good and our joy. Who taught us that love delights to give? Make no mistake - our God is kind.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Final Lesson
I HAVE sought beauty through the dust of strife,
I have sought meaning for the ancient ache,
And music in the grinding wheels of life;
Long have I sought, and little found as yet
Beyond this truth: that Love alone can make
Earth beautiful, and life without regret!
(by Arthur Stringer)
I have sought meaning for the ancient ache,
And music in the grinding wheels of life;
Long have I sought, and little found as yet
Beyond this truth: that Love alone can make
Earth beautiful, and life without regret!
(by Arthur Stringer)
Saturday, October 13, 2007
"Our Great God"-Storm
(song by Fernando Ortega and Mac Powell)
Eternal God, unchanging, mysterious and unknown.
Your boundless love unfailing, in grace and mercy shown.
Bright seraphim in endless flight around your glorious throne.
They raise their voices day and night in praise to you alone.
Chorus:
Hallelujah! Glory be to our great God! (x2)
Lord, we are weak and frail, helpless in the storm.
Surround us with your angels, hold us in your arms.
Our cold and ruthless enemy, his pleasure is our harm.
Rise up, oh Lord, and he will flee before our Sovereign God.
Let every creature in the sea and every flying bird;
Let every mountain, every field and valley of the earth;
Let all the moons and all the stars in all the universe
Sing praises to the living God, who rules them by His word.
Eternal God, unchanging, mysterious and unknown.
Your boundless love unfailing, in grace and mercy shown.
Bright seraphim in endless flight around your glorious throne.
They raise their voices day and night in praise to you alone.
Chorus:
Hallelujah! Glory be to our great God! (x2)
Lord, we are weak and frail, helpless in the storm.
Surround us with your angels, hold us in your arms.
Our cold and ruthless enemy, his pleasure is our harm.
Rise up, oh Lord, and he will flee before our Sovereign God.
Let every creature in the sea and every flying bird;
Let every mountain, every field and valley of the earth;
Let all the moons and all the stars in all the universe
Sing praises to the living God, who rules them by His word.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Random Internet Gems
Found a surprising number of treasures strewn about the World Wide Web today, and thought I'd share:
From some thoughts (for his glory and our joy):
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploitexploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.”
(From The Weight of Glory, available here.)
From bjk at In The Quiet:
"What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
From Whispering Word:
So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust,…. Joel 2:25
From Artistic Theologue:
Jim Elliot used to love to quote the Gold Rush era poet Robert Service. This excerpt from Service’s “The Call Of The Wild“–which Elliot loved–tells us that God is calling us to something, Someone far greater than the religious status quo will settle for:
“They have cradled you in custom, they have primed you with their preaching,
They have soaked you in convention through and through;
They have put you in a showcase; you’re a credit to their teaching –
But can’t you hear the Wild? — it’s calling you.
Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us;
Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There’s a whisper on the night-wind, there’s a star agleam to guide us,
And the Wild is calling, calling. . .let us go.”
We serve a God who calls to the wild in us. He’s a lion. And as C.S. Lewis wrote of Him–typified by Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe–“Safe? ‘Course He’s not safe. But He’s good.” This wild to which the Lion of Judah calls us is not the wildness of living fast and loose. Not the wildness of an undisciplined and reprehensible life. But the wildness of living wholly and obediently within the full character of God–His love and His holiness; His goodness and severity; His mercy and His judgement; His kindness and His wrath. Our God is holy. He is to be feared and had in reverence by His people. Only a God like that is worthy of our worship and obedience. A “God” who simply speaks of soft, easy, smooth, fun and enjoyable things is not the God we find in the pages of scripture. A.W. Tozer used to say that God always acts like Himself. This Wild One is calling you today to join Him in that wild, sometimes barren and unpredictable place where He is….
From some thoughts (for his glory and our joy):
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploitexploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.”
(From The Weight of Glory, available here.)
From bjk at In The Quiet:
"What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
From Whispering Word:
So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust,…. Joel 2:25
From Artistic Theologue:
Jim Elliot used to love to quote the Gold Rush era poet Robert Service. This excerpt from Service’s “The Call Of The Wild“–which Elliot loved–tells us that God is calling us to something, Someone far greater than the religious status quo will settle for:
“They have cradled you in custom, they have primed you with their preaching,
They have soaked you in convention through and through;
They have put you in a showcase; you’re a credit to their teaching –
But can’t you hear the Wild? — it’s calling you.
Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us;
Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There’s a whisper on the night-wind, there’s a star agleam to guide us,
And the Wild is calling, calling. . .let us go.”
We serve a God who calls to the wild in us. He’s a lion. And as C.S. Lewis wrote of Him–typified by Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe–“Safe? ‘Course He’s not safe. But He’s good.” This wild to which the Lion of Judah calls us is not the wildness of living fast and loose. Not the wildness of an undisciplined and reprehensible life. But the wildness of living wholly and obediently within the full character of God–His love and His holiness; His goodness and severity; His mercy and His judgement; His kindness and His wrath. Our God is holy. He is to be feared and had in reverence by His people. Only a God like that is worthy of our worship and obedience. A “God” who simply speaks of soft, easy, smooth, fun and enjoyable things is not the God we find in the pages of scripture. A.W. Tozer used to say that God always acts like Himself. This Wild One is calling you today to join Him in that wild, sometimes barren and unpredictable place where He is….
Saturday, September 1, 2007
I have had Thee - !
Thou wast alone through Thy redemption-vigil,
Thy friends had fled;
The angel at the garden from Thee parted,
And solitude instead
More than the scourge, or cross, O tender-hearted,
Under the crown of thorns bowed down
Thy head.
But I, amid the torture, and the taunting,
I have had Thee!
Thy hand was holding my hand fast and faster,
Thy voice was close to me
And glorious eyes said,"Follow Me, Thy Master,
Smile as I smile thy faithfulness to see."
H.E. Hamilton King
O, lovely Lord Jesus! He is the One that I need. Other things, and other people, attract me, but the lustre of all else fades and fails. But Jesus - he never fails! I am never tired of him. He is always beautiful, always deep and clean and vast and dear. He alone fills all the longing of my heart. He alone is complete, and makes me complete.
When I am alone in the core of my heart, he is there.
Thy friends had fled;
The angel at the garden from Thee parted,
And solitude instead
More than the scourge, or cross, O tender-hearted,
Under the crown of thorns bowed down
Thy head.
But I, amid the torture, and the taunting,
I have had Thee!
Thy hand was holding my hand fast and faster,
Thy voice was close to me
And glorious eyes said,"Follow Me, Thy Master,
Smile as I smile thy faithfulness to see."
H.E. Hamilton King
O, lovely Lord Jesus! He is the One that I need. Other things, and other people, attract me, but the lustre of all else fades and fails. But Jesus - he never fails! I am never tired of him. He is always beautiful, always deep and clean and vast and dear. He alone fills all the longing of my heart. He alone is complete, and makes me complete.
When I am alone in the core of my heart, he is there.
Friday, August 24, 2007
The Spiritual and the Secular
The following is from a blog I stumbled across today and liked:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jbakke/2004_03_01_archive.html
Benedictine everyday life
Currently, the readings from Sister Joan Chittister's commentary on the Rule of St Benedict discuss household management. The reading and commentary for March 10 are as follows:
The goods of the monastery, that is, its tools, clothing or anything else, should be entrusted to members whom the prioress or abbot appoints and in whose manner of life they have confidence. The abbot or prioress will, as they see fit, issue to them the various articles to be cared for and collected after use. The prioress and abbot will maintain a list of these, so that when the members succeed one another in their assigned tasks, they may be aware of what they hand out and what they receive back.
Whoever fails to keep the things belonging to the monastery clean or treats them carelessly should be reproved. If they do not amend, let them be subjected to the discipline of the rule.
To those who think for a moment that the spiritual life is an excuse to ignore the things of the world, to go through time suspended above the mundane, to lurch from place to place with a balmy head and a saccharine smile on the face, let this chapter be fair warning. Benedictine spirituality is as much about good order, wise management and housecleaning as it is about the meditative and the immaterial dimensions of life. Benedictine spirituality sees the care of the earth, and the integration of prayer and work, body and soul, as essential parts of the journey to wholeness that answers the emptiness in each of us.
These words are so easy to write—even easier to cut-and-paste!—yet so difficult for me to live out.
http://home.earthlink.net/~jbakke/2004_03_01_archive.html
Benedictine everyday life
Currently, the readings from Sister Joan Chittister's commentary on the Rule of St Benedict discuss household management. The reading and commentary for March 10 are as follows:
The goods of the monastery, that is, its tools, clothing or anything else, should be entrusted to members whom the prioress or abbot appoints and in whose manner of life they have confidence. The abbot or prioress will, as they see fit, issue to them the various articles to be cared for and collected after use. The prioress and abbot will maintain a list of these, so that when the members succeed one another in their assigned tasks, they may be aware of what they hand out and what they receive back.
Whoever fails to keep the things belonging to the monastery clean or treats them carelessly should be reproved. If they do not amend, let them be subjected to the discipline of the rule.
To those who think for a moment that the spiritual life is an excuse to ignore the things of the world, to go through time suspended above the mundane, to lurch from place to place with a balmy head and a saccharine smile on the face, let this chapter be fair warning. Benedictine spirituality is as much about good order, wise management and housecleaning as it is about the meditative and the immaterial dimensions of life. Benedictine spirituality sees the care of the earth, and the integration of prayer and work, body and soul, as essential parts of the journey to wholeness that answers the emptiness in each of us.
These words are so easy to write—even easier to cut-and-paste!—yet so difficult for me to live out.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Counting the Cost
Anyone who considers following the Lord Jesus must first face one difficult thing: our universe is currently embroiled in an invisible but deadly battle, in which Jesus is centre. Following after him will eventually lead you and me directly into the fray. Though we cannot affect the outcome of the fight - it was decided on the cross - it can affect us. We cannot follow one who laid down his life and expect to keep our own.
This is a fact that became all too real for 23 South Korean missionaries in Afghanistan this week. They were members of a medical missions team whose bus was stopped and taken hostage by the Taliban. One of them, a pastor, was shot in the head. How many of that team sat down and calculated how much they'd be willing to risk? When it comes to that, how many of us has spent time considering how much is too much? When the enemy comes to us, and demands our life and the things we love in exchange for the glory we seek to offer our God, will we be willing to pay the price? How far will we go to avoid such an expense?
The Korean captives are going to take a lot of flak if they do make it home. Their situation has created a huge backlash against the Christian community in their home country. The world is tired of having to babysit those who play at "trusting God" but go crying to governments and political groups when things turn sour. I have no right to say that they haven't counted the cost - but have I counted it?
When I am struck a blow from the enemy, will I come running home in tears? Oh, to so discipline myself that when my life hangs on the line, I will be able to stay the urge to seek rescue from political forces and human constructs! Oh, to have so exercised my spirit that I will be empowered to quietly gather up the trappings of my life, along with national rights and privileges, to lay upon the altar of Love! God grant that I may turn my back on all that is mine; that I may remain unmoved by the shrieks and groans of squirming self when the sword is held to my throat; that, in the face of the Enemy of souls, there may for me be no resorting to any lesser refuge than the Everlasting Arms.
Great crowds were following him. He turned around and addressed them as follows:
'Anyone who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters - yes, more than his own life - otherwise he cannot be my disciple. And no one can be my disciple who does not carry his own cross and follow me.
But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if he has enough money to pay the bills? Otherwise he might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh!
'See that fellow there?' they would mock. 'He started that building and then ran out of money before it was finished!'
Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counsellors and discussing whether his army of 10,000 is strong enough to defeat the 20,000 men who are marching against him?
If the decision is negative, then while the enemy troops are still far away, he will send a truce team to discuss terms of peace. So no one can become my disciple unless he first sits down and counts his blessings - and then renounces them all for me.
What good is salt that has lost its saltiness? Flavorless salt is good for nothing - not even for fertilizer. It is worthless and must be thrown out. Listen well, if you would understand my meaning.
- Luke 14:25-34 (The Living Bible)
Great crowds were following Jesus. They went where he went; were awed by his miracles; admired his wisdom; hung on to his every word.
He is just as popular today. But what of it? The great mega-churches, the Christian magazines and concerts and faith-based governmental initiatives - what are they to him?
He knows that disciples are not simply those who follow - rather, they are people who have thought, considered, looked hard at life, and made a conscious decision.
Jesus never says, "Come with me, it's gonna be great. We'll have lots of fellowship, and we can sing great worship songs together as we go..."
Instead, he says, "You wanna follow me? Here's what it's going to cost: everything."
We have made Christianity another lifestyle choice; a political party. We've dumbed-down God's requirements to suit personalities and political leanings. The ten commandments and the tithe have become our "company policy". Jesus goes WAY beyond that. You think it's enough for him that you go to church, you're straight, and you don't get smashed on the weekends? Ha. Jesus says, "Pick up your cross or go home."
Christianity is not the social club we've presented it as. Even if you never leave the comfort of your own country, it's a high stakes game - far too dangerous for those who want a cause to espouse, a sympathetic community to participate in, a spiritual insurance program. You can get hurt if you go wandering about a battlefield. Will you give the world a reason to mock God? Will I?
As Jim Elliot says, we have "bargained for a cross". We ought to think it through.
This is a fact that became all too real for 23 South Korean missionaries in Afghanistan this week. They were members of a medical missions team whose bus was stopped and taken hostage by the Taliban. One of them, a pastor, was shot in the head. How many of that team sat down and calculated how much they'd be willing to risk? When it comes to that, how many of us has spent time considering how much is too much? When the enemy comes to us, and demands our life and the things we love in exchange for the glory we seek to offer our God, will we be willing to pay the price? How far will we go to avoid such an expense?
The Korean captives are going to take a lot of flak if they do make it home. Their situation has created a huge backlash against the Christian community in their home country. The world is tired of having to babysit those who play at "trusting God" but go crying to governments and political groups when things turn sour. I have no right to say that they haven't counted the cost - but have I counted it?
When I am struck a blow from the enemy, will I come running home in tears? Oh, to so discipline myself that when my life hangs on the line, I will be able to stay the urge to seek rescue from political forces and human constructs! Oh, to have so exercised my spirit that I will be empowered to quietly gather up the trappings of my life, along with national rights and privileges, to lay upon the altar of Love! God grant that I may turn my back on all that is mine; that I may remain unmoved by the shrieks and groans of squirming self when the sword is held to my throat; that, in the face of the Enemy of souls, there may for me be no resorting to any lesser refuge than the Everlasting Arms.
Great crowds were following him. He turned around and addressed them as follows:
'Anyone who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters - yes, more than his own life - otherwise he cannot be my disciple. And no one can be my disciple who does not carry his own cross and follow me.
But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if he has enough money to pay the bills? Otherwise he might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh!
'See that fellow there?' they would mock. 'He started that building and then ran out of money before it was finished!'
Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counsellors and discussing whether his army of 10,000 is strong enough to defeat the 20,000 men who are marching against him?
If the decision is negative, then while the enemy troops are still far away, he will send a truce team to discuss terms of peace. So no one can become my disciple unless he first sits down and counts his blessings - and then renounces them all for me.
What good is salt that has lost its saltiness? Flavorless salt is good for nothing - not even for fertilizer. It is worthless and must be thrown out. Listen well, if you would understand my meaning.
- Luke 14:25-34 (The Living Bible)
Great crowds were following Jesus. They went where he went; were awed by his miracles; admired his wisdom; hung on to his every word.
He is just as popular today. But what of it? The great mega-churches, the Christian magazines and concerts and faith-based governmental initiatives - what are they to him?
He knows that disciples are not simply those who follow - rather, they are people who have thought, considered, looked hard at life, and made a conscious decision.
Jesus never says, "Come with me, it's gonna be great. We'll have lots of fellowship, and we can sing great worship songs together as we go..."
Instead, he says, "You wanna follow me? Here's what it's going to cost: everything."
We have made Christianity another lifestyle choice; a political party. We've dumbed-down God's requirements to suit personalities and political leanings. The ten commandments and the tithe have become our "company policy". Jesus goes WAY beyond that. You think it's enough for him that you go to church, you're straight, and you don't get smashed on the weekends? Ha. Jesus says, "Pick up your cross or go home."
Christianity is not the social club we've presented it as. Even if you never leave the comfort of your own country, it's a high stakes game - far too dangerous for those who want a cause to espouse, a sympathetic community to participate in, a spiritual insurance program. You can get hurt if you go wandering about a battlefield. Will you give the world a reason to mock God? Will I?
As Jim Elliot says, we have "bargained for a cross". We ought to think it through.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)