Distinguished

Most men will content themselves and quiet their consciences by avoiding the more gross acts of sin, by avoiding an outward gratification of lusts; but it becomes Christians to distinguish themselves here, and avoid sinning so much as in their thoughts, not to indulge any lust so much as in their imagination.

-Jonathan Edwards, Christians A Chosen Generation, A Royal Priesthood

I fix my eyes ahead.

Prepare in urgency to race
Casting off the wieght that burdens me
I cannot dare to force the pace
Marathon for life the road I face

Commited
determined
My gaze is set on finishing

I’m straining to extend my lead
With every evil chasing me
One day, one hour, every step

I know
I know
I fix
my eyes
Ahead

Straining on to run without remorse
Casting off mistakes that came before
In my mind I see a hallowed door
Open arm embrace, I’m reaching for...

Just like a breeze is passing me
My stammers, a distant memory
We cannot afford a glance to see
What’s gaining or what is history

-The Black Brigade, Project 86, Picket Fence Cartel

Who do I belong to?

Who do I belong To?
Not Earth
Not world
Not Evil
Not mortals
Not wretches
Not horrors

Who do I belong to?
Unchanging
Unbreaking
Unfailing
Creator
Immortal
Eternal

-To Sand We Return, Project 86, Picket Fence Cartel

Verse of the Day

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
-Psalm 46:10

"...I repent in dust and ashes."

I just finished reading Job and noticed something interesting. Most of the book is spent with Job's friends giving speeches about how God only punishes the wicked, so the fact that multiple tragedies befell Job meant he had sinned against God. Job argues that he has walked the path of righteousness and his friends are wrong. God shows up and confronts Job: "Gird up your loins like a man," and "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" Job gives up his argument: "I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes." Then God says Job spoke rightly of Him while Job's friends were wrong. Job is restored in everything he lost.

But God never explains. He doesn't tell Job of the debates with Satan that occur at the beginning of the book. The answer to Job's questions are simply: I Am.

Severe Sickness

Now here's a prophecy you don't want to hear about yourself, from 2 Chronicles 21:12-15:

Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, "Thus says the LORD God of your father David, 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot as the house of Ahab played the harlot, and you have also killed your brothers, your own family, who were better than you, behold, the LORD is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives and all your possessions with a great calamity; and you will suffer severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.'"

Ugh.

Dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life.

I just read this passage from the NASB, Luke 21:34-35:

Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.

The context of the passage is Jesus telling his disciples about His return. It's pretty obvious how "drunkenness and dissipation" can dull the senses and keep you unaware of important things around you. I suppose it's also easy to see how worry can distract you and keep you from being alert. But even the biggest worldly concerns are only temporary. Not exactly a groundbreaking revelation, but something about how it came across in this passage this evening struck a cord.

The Cross

On Good Friday, some excellent thoughts on the Cross. A standout bit:

The cross shows God’s power because it shows the strength of his forebearing love. It would have been easy for Jesus to come down from the cross and annihilate those who opposed and mocked him. He could have demonstrated to everyone his brute force as God. If Vince McMahon were God, that might have been the way it played out. Jesus, rather, like a parent who doesn’t retaliate with superior physical force against an infant who strikes him, resists on account of his superior moral strength. Through his apparent weakness, he paradoxically shows the full power of total trust in God the Father.

I believe that is the first time I've ever seen Vince McMahon used in a spiritual metaphor.

You Are A Stubborn People

I was just reading Deuteronomy 9:5-7 and was struck by the lengths God goes to to impress on the Israelites that they are not being rewarded because of their own righteousness:

"It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people. Remember, do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD."

And that's being charitable. It seems like Israel is creating an idol or complaining every single page from Exodus to Deuteronomy. It's hard to believe God didn't simply destroy them all, which He threatened multiple times.

But here's the thing I come back to every time I read this section of scripture: Are we any better? Sure, we look the Israelites and say "Hey, they got to see God in a pillar of fire, what morons they are for disobeying." But we have the Spirit. No one gets any excuses.

Culprit Or Child

I seem to remember when I was younger hearing discussions about the necessity of confessing sins as a Christian. This paragraph from Morning and Evening is as concise an explanation as I've read.