Finding a reason to live in a zombie-infested world

I suppose it's a guilty pleasure, but I am enjoying watching The Walking Dead.  I am a sucker for apocalyptic tales.

At one point in the story, during the continual flight from flesh-eating zombies, a father and his 10 year old son have a close encounter with a deer in the woods.  The deer stares at the boy, and the boy stares at the deer.  Within the horror of their lives, the beauty is magical.  The boy smiles at his father at wonder and joy...until the boy is shot.  A nearby hunter shot the deer and the bullet passed through the animal and hit the boy in the chest.  The magic is over and a new chapter of horror begins.

After going through great lengths to get help for their son, his mother wonders if it's worth the effort to keep the little guy alive in such a horrible world, knowing that he will probably spend his life in continual stress and flight.  She asks her husband for a reason to put the boy through the pain of surgery and recovery in order to keep him alive?  The boy's father can't find an answer.

Eventually, after nearly dying, the little guy wakes up and sees his mother for the first time since this accident, and he's anxious to tell his Mom something.  With a groggy smile, he tells her about the deer, how close he was to it, and how beautiful it was.  And then he has a siezure and the horror continues.

Now the father has found the answer that he didn't have before.  "Our son remembered the deer, the beauty", he tells his wife, "he didn't talk about the shooting or the pain or the fear.  He talked about the deer."  The brief thrill of beholding beauty trumped all the horror that the boy had previously experienced.

I think the people who wrote this show are on to something.  Without knowing it, they have stumbled upon an aspect of humanity that reveals the divine image in us.  We were made to behold beauty, glory.  We are hungry for it, starved for it, driven to find it.  When we see it, however dimly or briefly, it can spur us on to look for more.

The Bible tells us that regenerated sons and daughters of God can, with the scriptures and the Holy Spirit, pursue this glory and beauty by knowing God better, especially in the "face" of Jesus the Christ. 

Also, some day we will finish wandering through this wilderness.  We will no longer be pursued by the faith-eating zombies of the world, the flesh, and devil.  We will enter the promised land of eternal beauty!

The ultimate oxymoron - A Christ-less Christian worship service

Greetings Pastor Colby.

Today I attended the Midweek Worship Service.  Since your web site says you welcome comments, I thought I'd offer a couple.

I was sad that Jesus' name was not mentioned once during the whole service.  Not in the songs that were sung, not in the meditations that were given.  (Buddhism, however, did get a couple mentions.)

I was also sad that the Holy Scriptures weren't read from.  (We did hear some thoughts from a human author.)

Nothing that took place during the service was distinctly Christian.  This is a sad thing, because Christians have Good News to offer to the world and to each other.

Peace on earth begins by finding peace with God, and we find peace with God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  We can love each other because, as Holy Spirit indwelt believers, God's love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. 

I would like to encourage you and your community to offer the harried and hassled downtown worker a Person who is eternal and soul-satisfying, the Bread of Life and the Living Water - Jesus.

Regards,

Gary Horn

What is the story?

I've always been a scrounger, a scavenger.  This explains why, in my high school days, I was captivated by The Source, a historical novel about Palestine written by James Michener. 

In this novel, archeologists dig trenches into the sides of large mounds, or "tells", which are buried locations of villages and small cities.  As they dig, the scientists unearth various objects (a sickle blade, a coin, etc.) and then Michener goes back in time and tells a story that includes this item in his narrative.  I love this book and have read it at least twice.

I was thinking about this book when, last weekend, while I was moving dirt around in my back yard, I exhumed an intriguing artifact:

The marble itself is not very interesting but the stories it could tell might be very intriguing.  "How long had this marble been there?  How did it get buried under a foot of dirt?  Who did this belong to?"  Unfortunately, I'll never know this marble's story.

The Curiosity Rover that just landed on Mars is zapping rocks with lazers, trying to wrestle a story out of them. 

For most of my life the Bible has been like rock with a story locked inside.  But lately, I've come to see and love the Bible as the story of God's redemptive plan for the creatures that bear his image. How did that change happen?  Good preaching has been the laser that has revealed the wonderful story.

Pilgrim's Hymn by Michael Dennis Browne

Pilgrim's Hymn

Even before we call on Your name to ask You, O God,

When we seek for the words to glorify You, You hear our prayer;

Unceasing love, O unceasing love, surpassing all we know.

Glory to the father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Even with darkness sealing us in, we breathe Your name,

And through all the days that follow so fast, we trust in You;

Endless Your grace, O endless Your grace, beyond all mortal dream.

Both now and forever, and unto ages and ages, Amen

(Michael Dennis Browne)

The importance of Jesus-centered preaching

I am a high-maintenance Christian.  I am easily flustered, derailed, unhinged, distracted, and driven to despair.  I pay too much attention to my lying emotions and self-centered thoughts.

One of the most effective "means of grace" in my life has been good preaching.  (When I say "good preaching", I mean preaching that gets my eyes off of myself and onto Jesus, preaching that is charactorized by Bible exposition.)  I spend a lot of time listening to sermons on my iPod.  I have noticed that the Scotsmen and Irishmen are particularly good at preaching.
 

Here's a list of my favorite preachers that I have found on iTunes:

• Alistair Begg - "Truth For Life" radio program
• Collin Smith - "Unlocking The Bible" radio program
• Sinclair Ferguson - First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, SC
• St. George's Tron Church - Glasgow, Scotland
• Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church, Bangor , Ireland

Their preaching focuses on what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do.  They emphasize our union with Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life.  They do not moralize and add new burdens to their listener's backs.  Their preaching is life-giving.

I also enjoy reading devotionals by Charles Spurgeon (Engishman)  and Andrew Murray (South African).  Their writing is so pastoral and nurturing.

I feel blessed to belong to a church fellowship (Bethlehem Baptist Church) that has consistently good preaching.

A Hymn To God The Father by John Donne

There is so much grace and comfort in this hymn.   A HYMN TO GOD THE FATHER. by John Donne I. WILT Thou forgive that sin where I begun,     Which was my sin, though it were done before? Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run,     And do run still, though still I do deplore?         When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,                     For I have more. II. Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won     Others to sin, and made my sin their door? Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun     A year or two, but wallowed in a score?         When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,                     For I have more. III. I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun     My last thread, I shall perish on the shore ; But swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son     Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore ;         And having done that, Thou hast done ;                     I fear no more. Source: Donne, John. Poems of John Donne. vol I. E. K. Chambers, ed. London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 213.

Reading the Bible aloud

I recently discovered the value of reading large portions of scripture (for example, an entire epistle) aloud to myself.

• It forces me to read more slowly.
• If my mind wanders, I notice it sooner.
• I am taking in God's word through an additional sensory apparatus, which can give it more "weight".
• I have to pay attention to the voice inflections and chose what fits the text.
• The thoughts get connected together into a coherent message.

Faith comes by hearing the word of God.  I have been helped by hearing it in my own voice!

In What Torn Ship by John Donne

I appreciate some poetry, and I've written some of my own occasionally.   Here's one I like.  It's honest, from the heart, and focused on love.

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A Hymn to Christ at the Author's Last Going into Germany

In what torn ship soever I embark,

That ship shall be my emblem of thy Ark;

What sea soever swallow me, that flood

Shall be to me an emblem of thy blood;

Though thou with clouds of anger do disguise

Thy face, yet through that mask I know those eyes,

Which, though they turn away sometimes,

They never will despise.

 I sacrifice this Island unto thee,

And all whom I loved there, and who loved me;

When I have put our seas 'twixt them and me,

Put thou thy sea betwixt my sins and thee.

As the tree's sap doth seek the root below

In winter, in my winter now I go,

Where none but thee, th' Eternal root

Of true Love, I may know.

Nor thou nor thy religion dost control

The amorousness of an harmonious Soul,

But thou wouldst have that love thyself: as thou

Art jealous, Lord, so I am jealous now,

Thou lov'st not, till from loving more, Thou free

My soul: who ever gives, takes liberty:

O, if thou car'st not whom I love

Alas, thou lov'st not me.

Seal then this bill of my Divorce to All,

On whom those fainter beams of love did fall;

Marry those loves, which in youth scattered be

On Fame, Wit, Hopes (false mistresses) to thee.

Churches are best for Prayer, that have least light:

To see God only, I go out of sight:

And to 'scape stormy days, I choose

An Everlasting night.

My "rib"

I want one of my earliest posts to be about my wife, who has put up with a lot from me during our 32 years.  Her love for God and her trust in Him has enabled her to do it.  She has more faith in Him and love for Him than anyone I have ever met, and I do mean anyone.  She has been my helper and my best friend.  She is not perfect, but she's perfect for me.  I shudder to think of what kind of man I would have become if it had not been for her influence.  I can't say enough good things about her.   She really is a part of me, my better part.  I love her very much.

In the Bible, Paul says that marriage is intended to help the world see how much Jesus loves his church.  I hope to continue to grow in my love for her and give the best picture I can.

The priority of love

Of all the things I could write about, Jesus the Son of God is the most important to me.  Jesus means everything to me.

As I grow older, some things are becoming more sharply focused in my mind:

• My great need for grace.
• Jesus' great graciousness.  
• My profound spiritual amnesia.
• My readiness to trust my lying thoughts and feelings.
• The supreme importance of sizing up my thoughts and feelings with the Bible as the measurement.
• The priority of 'love'.

Love is very important to God.  The Great Commandment that God has given us is this:  Love the LORD with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Now, I've noticed something: the more I feel loved by Jesus, the more I want to love him in return.  My experience agrees with the scriptures: "We love because he first loved us".  So, in order for me to keep the Great Commandment, it is extremely important for me to remind myself, via the Bible, that Jesus loves me a lot.  He loves me perfectly.  He loves me forever.

I am amazed how Jesus helps me fulfill the Great Commandment.  He does this by loving me.  When he loves me, I love him back.  And if that isn't enough, he poured his love into my heart by giving me His Holy Spirit.  I am loving other people with his love.


I love how St. Augustine put it in his prayer to God:  "Give what you command, and command what you will."

Why another blog in cyberspace?

Why am I blogging?  I originally started this blog to "protect" my "brand".  Industry experts are suggesting that you "claim" your identity on the popular sites, thereby preventing other people from using your name (or a name like yours) and tarnishing your reputation.  I agree with this advice and acted on it.  I didn't think I'd actually post in it, though.  There are lots of blogs, after all.

So, the blog was sitting out there, unused.  One day, I began thinking about posting in it.  I do enjoy writing.  I used to write quite a bit (but stopped, which is another story that I'll share later).

So, I'll post some things.

Why "Mister Marvelous"?

"Mister Marvelous", by the way, is a moniker I used a long time ago when I was writing a humorous advice column for a church newsletter.  I consider Mister Marvelous to be my prideful alter-ego, my Mr. Hyde.  To varying degrees, I manage to keep him hidden in the basement, but sometimes he fights his way up the stairs and bursts into the daylight.

A new career interest

I'm pursuing a career redirection toward the information security industry.  What better way to make this announcement than using Wierd Al?