We have a wedding in our family this weekend and I must do the ring ceremony. Oh boy! What to say? Vows? Well, regardless of my speech impediments, vows, vows, vows are commitments of a special kind. Our marrying candidates will circulate their rings amongst the congregation as the ceremony proceeds, and ask for all to have a special prayer for them. Is this for real? I asked the question also. Answer– extremely real. Why? Because vows are not lightly taken . Our society has left God out of the mix, and recreated a blend in which vows today are not so popular. As a culture, we have taught our children directly or indirectly that vows and commitments are too extreme. We have intimated that they are too hard to keep and have allowed our children to break promises left and right. How have we done this?…
Healing at the Cross Posts
So, let’s reflect on what is about to happen with Jacob in Genesis 46. If you had a favorite child die around 17 or 18 and had mourned and after a long time put it out of your mind; could you imagine the feelings as he suddenly shows up alive? I can’t think of a more unbelievable, surprising, exuberant, joy unspeakable, no words can describe its blessing. I am on the verge of tears thinking about it. Jacob was so messed up he said; “I will not be comforted.” But now, out of the years of disenchantment, out of the phobic solitary, out of the entangled web of biting sour, out of the aridity of barren desert gloom and out of the abysmal depths of tortured heart and daunting spirit, the unthinkable happens. Joseph is alive! Joseph is alive! My son is alive! Awe, the thrill! And then the embrace!…
Love and death A person must lay down their life in order to love the way God loves and stay true to the Bible. They must remove self, right now; place their very soul on the line; but could any even be willing? Do we wish for genuine self-sacrificing love? Are we empowered enough to become a victim for the sake of another? “Well, maybe for a child or wife” we say; but how many times can we do this? We willfully forsake a career, a good opportunity, a chance at success, a relationship with another, to love that chosen one unconditionally? Rare! In our face; God risks His own reputation to befriend a totally undeserving and conniving Abram and line up on the field’s same side with him. I don’t see a lot of this going on in our society. Pee-Wee Reese put his arm around Jackie Robinson in…
So the opposers, careful and calculated, return with some smashing outside maneuvers. Another go-at-it brings up the question of natural law and Civil law. The cliches begin “so you are teaching people they don’t have to follow laws” The ‘end around’ insinuates ‘grace’ is the equivalent of anarchy. Boldly expressed, the latest maneuver messes with the mind. In the eyes of the competition, grace people always rebel against societal order. Lets think about why this is not true. In a good way, ‘control’ is an important concept here. A secret to the healed soul finds a person stepping out of a wounded soul via yielding to Holy Spirit-control. Not Law-control or self-control but Spirit-control eliminates the nonsense. In Proverbs 16:32 we see the principle of ruling our spirit. This in the Hebrew also carries the meaning “become like” our spirit. So,…
God came to my house and asked for charity. And I fell on my knees and cried, “Beloved, what may I give?” “Just love,” He said. “Just love.” St. Francis of Assisi Mere knowledge deceives big time. A mom passes into eternity and a sincere friend says,” your mom went to heaven”. Information-wise, a nice thought and probably true, however, only a partial comfort happens. Why? Because as human beings, our hurts go deeper. Vulnerable, and beginning to miss mom with overwhelming grief, the son or daughter need what mere knowledge lacks, a penetration of love or comfort perhaps. Let us not be fooled for convenience sake, simply because we lack the words for a proper responce. Another person walks up in the same situation and gives a big hug and says “I will pray for you”. This is better, but still falls short. Frankly, what the grieving person might…
The right emotion involves the body’s muscles and nerves…The left emotion, however, is controlled by information from the heart…Dr. Carl Stevens (Divine Resources for Healing p.9) This (two emotions) concept originates a Bible phenomena where emotions are referred to as “bowels,” “reins”, and “kidneys”; metonyms all. Early psychology recognized, and eastern medicine still distinguishes, emotions attached to and represented by various body organs. W. James as referenced from “Baker’s Encyclopedia of Psychology p.353” stated that “emotions are reflexes” They arise as a result of stimuli that have symbolic meaning to the individual. Since emotions are compound reflexes, they normally possess the properties of all reflexes: they can be facilitated (made to flow easier) or occluded (their flow is cut). They sum-mate (peak out), are graded in intensity, and are subject to fatigue.” More recent psychology has explored also the cognitive aspect of emotional stimulation. Going along with W. James’ theory,…
“All language has taken an oath to fail to describe Him; any attempt to do so is the height of arrogance and will always declare some kind of war” – Meister Eckhart Let’s talk logics. OK. Deductions, having reasonable presuppositions, encapsulate good logic, right? Yes. In other words, having a set of pre-supposers (things we take for granted as true); to form a protected disposition of mind, ranks high in our logical scheme, right? Yes; well maybe. What am I getting at? Many of man’s pre-disposed value-systems sophisticatedly only entertain carefully selected concepts. But where cometh these concepts? Well, any topic bringing a reaction in the emotions will soon be screened out of a person’s consciousness. What remains, become presuppositions. Some call this process narrow-minded thinking, but being temperamentally cool and in a stable mood sets the goal of the soul, right? Psychological deductions build safe pre-supposed areas, awesome if…