He didn't leave me stuck

As I was driving last evening, a Metallica song came on the radio, one that I strongly related to during an earlier period of my life. "The Unforgiven" is a powerful potion of rage and lament, and I was feeling both of these intensely.  I was in a counseling relationship with a person that was helping me unlearn some untrue things about myself and God.  I was in the process of discarding a lot of lies and dealing with some hurt, sadness and anger that I had bottled up and denied.  These things were robbing me of life.  And at this time, this song was my anthem, but it wasn't a good one.  I was profoundly unhappy and helplessly stuck.

As I listened to the words and music of this song, my heart welled up with praise to God, because he did not leave me in that place.  I know more truth about Him, myself, and the people in my life.  This truth has brought (relative) freedom.  Although I still have many of the same problems, I am a much happier man, because I know my Heavenly Father better.

God didn't leave me where I was.  He has led me onward, forward, to know him better by knowing Jesus better.  I'm repeating myself but this is so important to me.  How unhappy I was!  How much happier I am now!

John 17:3  "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

John 8:31-32  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

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.