Yesterday i delved into Isaiah 40... i’m picking it up again now.
Verses 6-8:
"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of out God stands forever."
Isaiah compares us to grass... here in New England, grass stays green for about 2-4 months, and then turns brown and nasty. Unless you have Zoysia Grass. But that’s another story, for another day.
Grass is an excellent example of feebleness.
It grows a couple inches long, and then you cut it down with the lawnmower... and it doesn’t take a lawnmower to cut grass. You can pick it with your fingers, you can eat it, you can rub it in with your foot... them green stalks don’t stand a chance. Grass is so weak that it blows over in a gentle breeze.
And that grass is us.
All of our "glory"... our accomplishments, dreams, aspirations...
All of our corporations, the great pyramids, the Eiffel Tower; its all likened to flowers.
Flowers fall apart and turn brown and smelly and nasty a few weeks after they bloom.
All it takes is a little energy and its all gone.
The point here is to try to show us just how small and insignificant we are.
Have you ever sat back and thought about infinity?
It’s pretty difficult.
Like, think of the number 10. Pretty ordinary. Pretty small.
Compared to infinity, it’s nothing.
If you multiply 10 times itself 100 times, you get the number one googol.
That’s a 1 with 100 zeros at the end:
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
The "official" name for the number is ten duotrigintillion.
It’s impossible to count to a googol.
don’t try.
Check it out though.
Googol was 10 raised to the 100th power.
Theres an even bigger number (duh)...
A Googolplex is 10 raised to the googolth power.
That is, multiply 10 times 10, one googol times.
You know how a googol has 100 zeros?
Well, since a googol is more than the number of particles in the known universe, it is actually impossible to represent a googolplex in decimal form.
Wikipedia has more information on the relative scale of a googolplex... trust me, it’s impossible to imagine.
That said, remember how much bigger infinity is than the number 10?
You could say that infinity is infinitely bigger than 10.
That said, infinity is also infinitely bigger than one googol.
And it’s still just as much infinitely bigger than one googolplex.
Get it... its like swimming in an endless pool. You can’t ever get closer to infinity, no matter how high you count.
That’s exactly the scale that God is to us, on earth.
We’re grass... God is the vastness of the universe. You can’t even comprehend it.
Isaiah continues on like poetry, in verses 12-20...
"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
Lebanon [as in, the whole country] is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
To whom, then will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to?
As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.
A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple."
It keeps going... but the jist of it is that God is unfathomable.
Our minds simply aren’t capable of grasping the vastness, the perfectness, the extent of God.
It’s incredible.
We’re not even a drop in the bucket; not even a sodium ion in the ocean.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
On Life Being a Highway
Today in english class we watched a little bit of a Peter Jennings documentary about the 1920s. I guess it was to prepare us for reading the Great Gatsby. Whatever.
Anyway, one things they mentioned about the '20s was the widespread adoption of the automobile.
Cars were totally different than horse-and-buggys, notably in that could go pretty fast... and were heavy. As such the conditions of current roadways was not adequate. The rising number of people with cars also prompted the need for an international highway system.
The government began a process of clearing land throughout the country and paving roads. People would wait in long lines at the opening ceremony of bridges and tunnels so that they could drive through them on the first day.
This was a big deal.
All of a sudden, an individual was free to go as he pleased.
And, of course, he didn't have to worry about chunky dirt roads that would mess up his suspension.
With the national highway system, there was no hindrance to travel; just the smooth, open road.
Isaiah 40:3-5 states:
A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight the wilderness a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough grounds shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."[NIV]
The terrain described here can be equated to our life "journeys", if you will.
Theres no need to climb over mountains and hike through valleys, just like how there's no need to drive on old beaten down horse trails with your mom's minivan.
We have a God who has blasted down the mountains, filled in the canyons, and clear-cut the forests for us. He's built us a highway that we can cruise down without trial or worry.
A lot more can be said about this, but i have to do homework... you can probably figure it out though.
Isaiah 40 will continue tomorrow... stay tuned. Or just read ahead in the Bible.
Anyway, one things they mentioned about the '20s was the widespread adoption of the automobile.
Cars were totally different than horse-and-buggys, notably in that could go pretty fast... and were heavy. As such the conditions of current roadways was not adequate. The rising number of people with cars also prompted the need for an international highway system.
The government began a process of clearing land throughout the country and paving roads. People would wait in long lines at the opening ceremony of bridges and tunnels so that they could drive through them on the first day.
This was a big deal.
All of a sudden, an individual was free to go as he pleased.
And, of course, he didn't have to worry about chunky dirt roads that would mess up his suspension.
With the national highway system, there was no hindrance to travel; just the smooth, open road.
Isaiah 40:3-5 states:
A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight the wilderness a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough grounds shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."[NIV]
The terrain described here can be equated to our life "journeys", if you will.
Theres no need to climb over mountains and hike through valleys, just like how there's no need to drive on old beaten down horse trails with your mom's minivan.
We have a God who has blasted down the mountains, filled in the canyons, and clear-cut the forests for us. He's built us a highway that we can cruise down without trial or worry.
A lot more can be said about this, but i have to do homework... you can probably figure it out though.
Isaiah 40 will continue tomorrow... stay tuned. Or just read ahead in the Bible.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter Blog
So today was Easter... arguably the best holiday that we celebrate.
My day consisted of waking up and finding out that my brother still hadn't taken a shower, and consequentially rushing when it was my turn to get out of the house in time.
Was only a few minutes late to practice/not actually practice because there wasn't time/stand around and wait for 10:01.
ANYWAY, the point is, p.Dave talked a little bit out of Romans 8.
Verses 1-4 read:
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." [NIV]
I bolded out the important part for you.
It basically explains everything that nonchristians don't understand.
When sin was introduced to the world, Man was kicked out of the Garden of Eden; human kind could no longer be so close to God, couldn't walk with the Father, couldn't be innocent. Sin was a barrier between us and God.
To overcome sin, we have everyone's favorite staff-wielding, bush-fearing, no-formal-training leader, Moses.
You know, the whole wandering in the desert thing for 40 years and such... well God had Moses establish the Jewish law.
You all know what Jewish law is. Its all those crazy things in Deuteronomy.
Anyway, essentially the law made sin "illigal".
It accounted for just about everything imaginable that man was capable of doing that God didn't want man to do.
So theoretically, an upright Jewish person didn't sin.
In that respect, God made it pretty straight forward. All Israel had to do was follow the laws, and they were all set.
Except the law couldn't account for the fact that, well, laws can be broken.
So the theoretical upright Jews that didn't sin were pretty few... and many who followed the law, like the religious leaders that Jesus had so much beef with, only followed the law as an exercise, and not from their hearts.
So it turned out that God's law wasn't a good solution to humankind's big problem.
That's where Romans 8 comes in... "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering"
Under the law we were still controlled by our fleshy, sinful desires.
Seeing as how law is a rather intangible thing, it couldn't do a whole lot to stop us.
But what Jesus did by dying on the cross was "condemned sin in sinful man", and set us free from ourselves.
And now we can be controlled by the Spirit; no longer ruled by the flesh.
We don't have to worry about following the law, because everything the law put into effect comes naturally through the spirit.
Paul goes on in verses 5-8:
"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."
See; we don't have to have a sinful mind anymore. We have Jesus.
That's basically why Easter is so cool.
My day consisted of waking up and finding out that my brother still hadn't taken a shower, and consequentially rushing when it was my turn to get out of the house in time.
Was only a few minutes late to practice/not actually practice because there wasn't time/stand around and wait for 10:01.
ANYWAY, the point is, p.Dave talked a little bit out of Romans 8.
Verses 1-4 read:
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." [NIV]
I bolded out the important part for you.
It basically explains everything that nonchristians don't understand.
When sin was introduced to the world, Man was kicked out of the Garden of Eden; human kind could no longer be so close to God, couldn't walk with the Father, couldn't be innocent. Sin was a barrier between us and God.
To overcome sin, we have everyone's favorite staff-wielding, bush-fearing, no-formal-training leader, Moses.
You know, the whole wandering in the desert thing for 40 years and such... well God had Moses establish the Jewish law.
You all know what Jewish law is. Its all those crazy things in Deuteronomy.
Anyway, essentially the law made sin "illigal".
It accounted for just about everything imaginable that man was capable of doing that God didn't want man to do.
So theoretically, an upright Jewish person didn't sin.
In that respect, God made it pretty straight forward. All Israel had to do was follow the laws, and they were all set.
Except the law couldn't account for the fact that, well, laws can be broken.
So the theoretical upright Jews that didn't sin were pretty few... and many who followed the law, like the religious leaders that Jesus had so much beef with, only followed the law as an exercise, and not from their hearts.
So it turned out that God's law wasn't a good solution to humankind's big problem.
That's where Romans 8 comes in... "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering"
Under the law we were still controlled by our fleshy, sinful desires.
Seeing as how law is a rather intangible thing, it couldn't do a whole lot to stop us.
But what Jesus did by dying on the cross was "condemned sin in sinful man", and set us free from ourselves.
And now we can be controlled by the Spirit; no longer ruled by the flesh.
We don't have to worry about following the law, because everything the law put into effect comes naturally through the spirit.
Paul goes on in verses 5-8:
"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."
See; we don't have to have a sinful mind anymore. We have Jesus.
That's basically why Easter is so cool.
Some Obvious Stupidity
do you mind if i paraphrase a story from the bible?
of course you don't.
1 Kings 22 is pretty much about Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
He was a pretty good guy. Unlike a lot of kings in the old testament, God didn't have any reasons to strike him dead.
Anyway, Jehoshaphat one day went down to visit the king of Israel, Ahab.
Ahab, unlike Jehoshaphat, wasn't really a good king.
You know how 4,000 years ago, kings used to have like, this council of advisers, that was mainly these crazy mystics and soothseers and whatnot?
Ahab had a bunch of those. In fact, he had about 400 prophets that weren't from God.
They were just a bunch of guys who made "prophesies"... in quotes like that.
not prophesies. "Prophesies". big difference.
Anyhow, when Jehoshaphat went down to see Ahab, Ahab kinda wanted to attack Ramoth Gilead.
I'll start quoting here, so you don't get bored.
22:4 "So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?"
Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the Lord."
It was at this point here that Ahab asked his 400 "prophets" if he should attack Ramoth Gilead. They answered that he should- enthusiastically, because he would win.
Jehoshaphat didn't really want to listen to fake prophets, though.
verse 7: "But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?"
The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah."
"The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied. So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once."
Well, to make a long story short, Micaiah told Ahab that if he went to attack Ramoth Gilead, the people of Israel would be "scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd" (vs. 17)
Of course, Ahab didn't listen to the guy, and ended up dying in the battle.
Jehoshaphat lived on.
Let's go over that again.
(1) King of Israel wants to attack some people
(2) King of Israel's fake prophets tell him he'll win
(3) Actual prophet, WHO THE KING KNEW WAS AN ACTUAL PROPHET tells him otherwise
(4) King listens to the guys that he pays to tell him what he wants to hear
(5) King dies.
(6) I laugh.
What. A. Retard.
"I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad."
So instead he listens to the people who tell him nice things about him.
Like, if there's a guy who's a prophet, and he tells you stuff that you don't want to hear, you probably shouldn't not listen to him, just because he's telling you stuff that doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, right?
right.
Likewise, when God tells us things we don't wanna hear, we're not supposed to plug our ears and sing catchy pop songs.
Instead, when God tells us we're being a moron, we listen to him and stop being a moron.
Unlike Ahab.
who died.
from an arrow wound.
I don’t want to be a moron. Join me?
[and for the record, Micaiah is an awesome name. even though its essentially Micah with an extra syllable.]
of course you don't.
1 Kings 22 is pretty much about Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
He was a pretty good guy. Unlike a lot of kings in the old testament, God didn't have any reasons to strike him dead.
Anyway, Jehoshaphat one day went down to visit the king of Israel, Ahab.
Ahab, unlike Jehoshaphat, wasn't really a good king.
You know how 4,000 years ago, kings used to have like, this council of advisers, that was mainly these crazy mystics and soothseers and whatnot?
Ahab had a bunch of those. In fact, he had about 400 prophets that weren't from God.
They were just a bunch of guys who made "prophesies"... in quotes like that.
not prophesies. "Prophesies". big difference.
Anyhow, when Jehoshaphat went down to see Ahab, Ahab kinda wanted to attack Ramoth Gilead.
I'll start quoting here, so you don't get bored.
22:4 "So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?"
Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the Lord."
It was at this point here that Ahab asked his 400 "prophets" if he should attack Ramoth Gilead. They answered that he should- enthusiastically, because he would win.
Jehoshaphat didn't really want to listen to fake prophets, though.
verse 7: "But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?"
The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah."
"The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied. So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once."
Well, to make a long story short, Micaiah told Ahab that if he went to attack Ramoth Gilead, the people of Israel would be "scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd" (vs. 17)
Of course, Ahab didn't listen to the guy, and ended up dying in the battle.
Jehoshaphat lived on.
Let's go over that again.
(1) King of Israel wants to attack some people
(2) King of Israel's fake prophets tell him he'll win
(3) Actual prophet, WHO THE KING KNEW WAS AN ACTUAL PROPHET tells him otherwise
(4) King listens to the guys that he pays to tell him what he wants to hear
(5) King dies.
(6) I laugh.
What. A. Retard.
"I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad."
So instead he listens to the people who tell him nice things about him.
Like, if there's a guy who's a prophet, and he tells you stuff that you don't want to hear, you probably shouldn't not listen to him, just because he's telling you stuff that doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, right?
right.
Likewise, when God tells us things we don't wanna hear, we're not supposed to plug our ears and sing catchy pop songs.
Instead, when God tells us we're being a moron, we listen to him and stop being a moron.
Unlike Ahab.
who died.
from an arrow wound.
I don’t want to be a moron. Join me?
[and for the record, Micaiah is an awesome name. even though its essentially Micah with an extra syllable.]
Saturday, March 15, 2008
On What's Right
Have you ever seen an interview with a convicted felon?
Last year in European History, we watched an interview with a guy. I don’t really remember what he did, but i’m pretty sure it had something to do with extreme racism.
Or possibly neo-nazi-ism. Which would probably be an example of extreme racism.
But anyway, it was really interesting to see the way the guy answered the interviewer’s questions.
He seemed (obviously) genuinely sorry about whatever it was he did, or at least you could tell he knew it was dumb of him.
Yet at the same time, his answers typically took the form of, "it made sense at the time", or "i don’t know what i was thinking" or somesuch.
Think back to any stupid thing you’ve done that you’ve regretted.
What in your mind allowed you to do it?
Do murderers know they’re killing people?
Obviously.
BUT.
There -HAS- to be something inside that shuts off the, "this isn’t right" alarm, at least momentarily.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t do it.
It’s a mechanism of the human brain.
I’m not talking about knowing right from wrong.
I’m talking about listening to it; everyone knows its wrong to kill people.
But a killer’s mind might be more on the level of, "its wrong, but that doesn’t really matter".
See, something has to let him think it’s alright.
Chizech it out.
Proverbs 21:2.
"All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart."
King solomon was pretty smart. The wisest king that ever lived.
Naturally, he’s right on.
Clearly, everyone thinks differently in terms of right and wrong.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t have a two-party governmental system, or multiple candidates, and all that hoo-ha.
So obviously, out of the 300,000,000 people in america, a whole bunch of them are wrong in at least a couple ideals.
Why do we spend 20 million dollars a MONTH on presidential campaigns?
beats me.
It’s right there in black and white. It doesn’t matter what people think; it doesn’t matter what seems right to them.
All that matters is what’s right in God’s eyes.
Last year in European History, we watched an interview with a guy. I don’t really remember what he did, but i’m pretty sure it had something to do with extreme racism.
Or possibly neo-nazi-ism. Which would probably be an example of extreme racism.
But anyway, it was really interesting to see the way the guy answered the interviewer’s questions.
He seemed (obviously) genuinely sorry about whatever it was he did, or at least you could tell he knew it was dumb of him.
Yet at the same time, his answers typically took the form of, "it made sense at the time", or "i don’t know what i was thinking" or somesuch.
Think back to any stupid thing you’ve done that you’ve regretted.
What in your mind allowed you to do it?
Do murderers know they’re killing people?
Obviously.
BUT.
There -HAS- to be something inside that shuts off the, "this isn’t right" alarm, at least momentarily.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t do it.
It’s a mechanism of the human brain.
I’m not talking about knowing right from wrong.
I’m talking about listening to it; everyone knows its wrong to kill people.
But a killer’s mind might be more on the level of, "its wrong, but that doesn’t really matter".
See, something has to let him think it’s alright.
Chizech it out.
Proverbs 21:2.
"All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart."
King solomon was pretty smart. The wisest king that ever lived.
Naturally, he’s right on.
Clearly, everyone thinks differently in terms of right and wrong.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t have a two-party governmental system, or multiple candidates, and all that hoo-ha.
So obviously, out of the 300,000,000 people in america, a whole bunch of them are wrong in at least a couple ideals.
Why do we spend 20 million dollars a MONTH on presidential campaigns?
beats me.
It’s right there in black and white. It doesn’t matter what people think; it doesn’t matter what seems right to them.
All that matters is what’s right in God’s eyes.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
On the Definition of Human Existance
So i was flipping through my bible yesterday, and my eyes landed on a particular passage.
I read it.
I laughed outloud.
This was most likely because we're in virginia visiting virginia tech, and i only brought my pocket bible, which is NLT.
I don't read NLT a whole lot, because the language feels too fudged to me.
But in this case it's wonderful.
I've talked about Jeremiah before; his book is starting to become one of my favorites.
I've also talked about idols before.
Try to forget that. If you haven't read that one, do yourself a favor and don't read it.
It was on February 27th, if you're still interested.
Anywho, Jeremiah 51:17-19.
The little heading over the section in my bible reads, "A Hymn of praise to the Lord".
so i'm not really sure who's talking. But it doesn't really matter.
"The whole Human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
These idols have no breath or power.
Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
But the God of Israel is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists, including his people, his own special possession.
The Lord of Heaven's Armies is his name!" [NLT]
So that made me laugh, because its absolutely true.
How many people do you know who are discouraged?
I know plenty of people; my teachers, my friends, my extended family... they are discouraged because life isn't what they know it should be.
My favorite science teacher comes across to many as depressed, even though he isn't.
He talks all the time about how worthless life can be, and how little of an impact is being made on things that need to be impacted.
He has spent his life whiling away teaching and managing an organic farm.
He is disgraced by the idols he has made.
I know tons of kids [spaulding people should be able to say all their friends and their friend's families for this one.] who are in a similar position.
You go to school. You maybe have a job. You do homework. You inexplicably fail classes. (it's because you're stupid.)
Worst of all, you're stuck there by federal law.
You toil away 4 years of your life, just to be pitched out into the real world to fend for yourself.
Why bother?
You make "idols".
Relationships. Friends. Jobs. Famous people. Hobbies. Money. Random useless trivia.
You realize that they're pointless.
You're disgraced.
Why?
it's right there in Jeremiah.
You know it's all a fraud.
There's something more.
oh, wait. all you have to do is read the next verse over.
The God of Israel is no idol!
hecks yeah!
Keep going, and you find out that his people (the Jews. But as p.Dave says, you can mentally replace "israel" and related words in the old testament with "church" and such. so we can take it to mean christians, yes?) are his own special possession!
sweet.
we're special to God.
and we don't need idols.
That's essentially the life of the nonchristian-searching-for-existance and the christian-who-knows-his-existance in a nutshell.
Thanks Jerry. You da man.
I read it.
I laughed outloud.
This was most likely because we're in virginia visiting virginia tech, and i only brought my pocket bible, which is NLT.
I don't read NLT a whole lot, because the language feels too fudged to me.
But in this case it's wonderful.
I've talked about Jeremiah before; his book is starting to become one of my favorites.
I've also talked about idols before.
Try to forget that. If you haven't read that one, do yourself a favor and don't read it.
It was on February 27th, if you're still interested.
Anywho, Jeremiah 51:17-19.
The little heading over the section in my bible reads, "A Hymn of praise to the Lord".
so i'm not really sure who's talking. But it doesn't really matter.
"The whole Human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
These idols have no breath or power.
Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
But the God of Israel is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists, including his people, his own special possession.
The Lord of Heaven's Armies is his name!" [NLT]
So that made me laugh, because its absolutely true.
How many people do you know who are discouraged?
I know plenty of people; my teachers, my friends, my extended family... they are discouraged because life isn't what they know it should be.
My favorite science teacher comes across to many as depressed, even though he isn't.
He talks all the time about how worthless life can be, and how little of an impact is being made on things that need to be impacted.
He has spent his life whiling away teaching and managing an organic farm.
He is disgraced by the idols he has made.
I know tons of kids [spaulding people should be able to say all their friends and their friend's families for this one.] who are in a similar position.
You go to school. You maybe have a job. You do homework. You inexplicably fail classes. (it's because you're stupid.)
Worst of all, you're stuck there by federal law.
You toil away 4 years of your life, just to be pitched out into the real world to fend for yourself.
Why bother?
You make "idols".
Relationships. Friends. Jobs. Famous people. Hobbies. Money. Random useless trivia.
You realize that they're pointless.
You're disgraced.
Why?
it's right there in Jeremiah.
You know it's all a fraud.
There's something more.
oh, wait. all you have to do is read the next verse over.
The God of Israel is no idol!
hecks yeah!
Keep going, and you find out that his people (the Jews. But as p.Dave says, you can mentally replace "israel" and related words in the old testament with "church" and such. so we can take it to mean christians, yes?) are his own special possession!
sweet.
we're special to God.
and we don't need idols.
That's essentially the life of the nonchristian-searching-for-existance and the christian-who-knows-his-existance in a nutshell.
Thanks Jerry. You da man.
Monday, March 10, 2008
You Are What You Eat
We've all heard that phrase before, "You are what you eat".
This is a perfect example of one of those things that changes meanings as you get older.
Such as the movie, Cars.
A little kid watches that, and laughs at the little kid jokes.
Teenagers will watch the movie and laugh at other subtleties.
Grown ups catch yet more jokes, that most idiot teenagers blatantly miss, like the Car Talk guys in the Rust-Ease booth.
The movie bears more meaning still to people who grew up in the 50's and remember what life was like back then with them neon lights. Nostalgia. Strong stuff.
Anywho, when we're little kids, "You are what you eat" is pretty concrete. [kids only understand the concrete. duh.] Parents use it to scare kids into eating healthy (you don't want to turn into a big tub of ice cream, do you?) and there was that old Magic School Bus where Arnold eats Sea-Weedies and turns orange because they're made out of carrots.
As we mature and age, we learn not to dwell on the sickeningly obvious.
The other day, people were talking about how Berwick english classes screw us up for the SATs, because we're so good at finding obscure, thoughtful meaning that doesn't actually exist.
Abstract thought always made me queasy.
But really, we realize that the term, "you are what you eat" means so much more than what's related to food.
We realize that the people we hang out with, the music we listen to, the books we read, the movies and shows we watch... it's all what we "take in".
It's what we eat.
And it's what forms us. Molds us. Makes us who we are.
The Bible references, multiple times, how what we are dictates what we make.
In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus talks about trees and their fruits:
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
So everything we take in influences us.
And that influence makes its way out of us back into the world in everything you do.
Let's pick on emo kids.
Because they love being picked on.
And they're so perfect for picking on.
You're an impressionable 6th grader.
One of your highschool friends is wicked cool.
He is like, the man, like, and dyes his hair black, and wears black tight jeans, and talks wicked cool with a fake lisp... one day he gives you a cd of some emo music.
You love it, naturally, and start getting into wicked emo stuff.
Everyone around you thinks you're cool, because you're only in middle school and you're already hardcore.
4 years later, you're in the same position your friend was when you were in middle school.
You're like, the leader of the emo posse.
[i'm sorry that wasn't more detailed, i really couldn't think of any good examples...]
Anyway, use your imagination.
You take in crap, you become crap, and then you start spewing crap to everyone else.
[not saying anything about emo kids here... just using them as an example. ha.]
Now, this concept of "you are what you eat" and bearing fruit has a spiritual aspect as well.
In Romans 7:46, Paul lets the Church in Rome onto something.
"So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Chris, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old was of the written code."
We start out in life filled with sinful nature.
I wrote a line down during sunday school today: "Humility isn't natural; we have to learn to be humble."
See, naturally, we humans are a nasty bunch. We lie, we cheat, we steal, etc.
But look again at what Paul said.
"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old was of the written code."
When we start following Jesus, we get filled with the holy Spirit. We stop 'taking in' everything of the world.
We read what God has to say in the Bible, we talk to other christians, we go to church and youth group.
We become released from sin, and that begins to show itself in our "fruits".
You could say we go from being a "bad tree" to being a "good tree".
We bear good fruit, not bad fruit.
And that goes for both spiritual, and physical things.
The way we talk, walk, act, communicate, think, perceive, and understand the world become new and different from that of the World.
On top of that, the last part of the verse in Matthew was that "by their fruit you will recognize them."
People will recognize the good trees by the good fruit.
We set an example for others; we show them what its like to be a good tree and have good fruit.
And if you ask me, the world could use some more good trees.
This is a perfect example of one of those things that changes meanings as you get older.
Such as the movie, Cars.
A little kid watches that, and laughs at the little kid jokes.
Teenagers will watch the movie and laugh at other subtleties.
Grown ups catch yet more jokes, that most idiot teenagers blatantly miss, like the Car Talk guys in the Rust-Ease booth.
The movie bears more meaning still to people who grew up in the 50's and remember what life was like back then with them neon lights. Nostalgia. Strong stuff.
Anywho, when we're little kids, "You are what you eat" is pretty concrete. [kids only understand the concrete. duh.] Parents use it to scare kids into eating healthy (you don't want to turn into a big tub of ice cream, do you?) and there was that old Magic School Bus where Arnold eats Sea-Weedies and turns orange because they're made out of carrots.
As we mature and age, we learn not to dwell on the sickeningly obvious.
The other day, people were talking about how Berwick english classes screw us up for the SATs, because we're so good at finding obscure, thoughtful meaning that doesn't actually exist.
Abstract thought always made me queasy.
But really, we realize that the term, "you are what you eat" means so much more than what's related to food.
We realize that the people we hang out with, the music we listen to, the books we read, the movies and shows we watch... it's all what we "take in".
It's what we eat.
And it's what forms us. Molds us. Makes us who we are.
The Bible references, multiple times, how what we are dictates what we make.
In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus talks about trees and their fruits:
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
So everything we take in influences us.
And that influence makes its way out of us back into the world in everything you do.
Let's pick on emo kids.
Because they love being picked on.
And they're so perfect for picking on.
You're an impressionable 6th grader.
One of your highschool friends is wicked cool.
He is like, the man, like, and dyes his hair black, and wears black tight jeans, and talks wicked cool with a fake lisp... one day he gives you a cd of some emo music.
You love it, naturally, and start getting into wicked emo stuff.
Everyone around you thinks you're cool, because you're only in middle school and you're already hardcore.
4 years later, you're in the same position your friend was when you were in middle school.
You're like, the leader of the emo posse.
[i'm sorry that wasn't more detailed, i really couldn't think of any good examples...]
Anyway, use your imagination.
You take in crap, you become crap, and then you start spewing crap to everyone else.
[not saying anything about emo kids here... just using them as an example. ha.]
Now, this concept of "you are what you eat" and bearing fruit has a spiritual aspect as well.
In Romans 7:46, Paul lets the Church in Rome onto something.
"So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Chris, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old was of the written code."
We start out in life filled with sinful nature.
I wrote a line down during sunday school today: "Humility isn't natural; we have to learn to be humble."
See, naturally, we humans are a nasty bunch. We lie, we cheat, we steal, etc.
But look again at what Paul said.
"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old was of the written code."
When we start following Jesus, we get filled with the holy Spirit. We stop 'taking in' everything of the world.
We read what God has to say in the Bible, we talk to other christians, we go to church and youth group.
We become released from sin, and that begins to show itself in our "fruits".
You could say we go from being a "bad tree" to being a "good tree".
We bear good fruit, not bad fruit.
And that goes for both spiritual, and physical things.
The way we talk, walk, act, communicate, think, perceive, and understand the world become new and different from that of the World.
On top of that, the last part of the verse in Matthew was that "by their fruit you will recognize them."
People will recognize the good trees by the good fruit.
We set an example for others; we show them what its like to be a good tree and have good fruit.
And if you ask me, the world could use some more good trees.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
On Being Part of It All
Let's shoot back in time a few thousand years.
We're in ancient Isreal, hanging out with a guy names Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was a prophet to his nation in a time where no one listened to him.
Isreal was sliding downhill and would soon be taken over by babylon... and God often spoke through him about the wickedness of his people.
Here's a couple verses i wanna talk about...
Jeremiah 25:30 & 31, in the NIV:
"Now Prophesy all these words against them and say to them:
"The Lord will roar from on high;
he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth.
The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword," declares the Lord."
Now clearly here, God's telling Jeremiah, who is supposed to tell everyone else, how He will roar from on high and thunder against the land.
But there's one itsy word in there.
It's a reflexive possessive adjective.
know what it is?
the word "His".
see, "he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land"
The HIS part of that is ridiculously important.
why?
because the earth IS GOD'S LAND.
Now read back what the verse is about.
He's talking about bringing judgment on the earth, and causing tumults and craziness.
Why?
I'll get to that.
But frist, try to see things the way i see them.
Say you're sitting at home, doing your math homework.
It's really hard. You have to do like 30 problems, and you're in AP Calc BC, so they're all like impossible.
It takes you two hours to complete, and finally, at 12:30, you're done.
You give your excellent work a final look over, nod reassuringly to yourself, and hold the 2 double-sided sheets of paper between your hands.
You then take hold of them and rip your homework to shreds.
Why?
I'll get to that.
...right now.
SEE?!
Consider the Earth God's metaphysical homework.
Remember all that stuff in Genesis about it being "good" and then "very good" and such?
So was your math homework.
But here God's talking about destroying his creation.
Wrecking his work.
Why destroy the earth?
Clearly something needs to be done about humanity.
In Noah's time, he just flooded the place out and started over, but sometime in the future it's all going away.
Anyone ever play the Sims?
the Sims was always a pretty fun game... for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes your sims start being stupid.
They don't listen to you, the pee on the couch, they starve themselves... it's a complete mess.
After 20 minutes, everyone always ends up making a new game and starting over.
Think of Humans as sims, and think of God as the player.
We've been around for a few thousand years; you'd think that, in that timespan, we'd figure out how to listen to God.
We should know how to do what he says, to uphold his commands.
But the human race has proved itself remarkably bad at that.
We don't listen to God.
We ignore him.
In fact, many people just deny his existence.
How do you think it would feel to be God, with everyone completely denying that you created them?
It would be a bummer.
I'd wanna start a new game.
But what do you do with all the "sims" that actually listened to you?
Give them a way out.
John 3:16-21, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
There you have it.
God has given us a ticked out of this place; but still billions of people ignore it every day.
Men love the darkness because then they don't have to realize/admit/come out that they're wrong and evil.
We need to show them that that's completely foolish; Jesus said that the Light is in the world.
People who ignore the Way are like someone in a bright room who insists that it's dark.
"what? i can't see you!"
"i'm standing right here, the lights are on! you probably have your eyes closed."
And maybe that's it.
Everyone just has their eyes closed, so they can't see the Light that is Jesus Christ.
They don't understand, they don't want to understand... but if we can't get them to figure it out, they're gonna get swept away through God's judgment on HIS creation.
/nighttime ramble.
We're in ancient Isreal, hanging out with a guy names Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was a prophet to his nation in a time where no one listened to him.
Isreal was sliding downhill and would soon be taken over by babylon... and God often spoke through him about the wickedness of his people.
Here's a couple verses i wanna talk about...
Jeremiah 25:30 & 31, in the NIV:
"Now Prophesy all these words against them and say to them:
"The Lord will roar from on high;
he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth.
The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword," declares the Lord."
Now clearly here, God's telling Jeremiah, who is supposed to tell everyone else, how He will roar from on high and thunder against the land.
But there's one itsy word in there.
It's a reflexive possessive adjective.
know what it is?
the word "His".
see, "he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land"
The HIS part of that is ridiculously important.
why?
because the earth IS GOD'S LAND.
Now read back what the verse is about.
He's talking about bringing judgment on the earth, and causing tumults and craziness.
Why?
I'll get to that.
But frist, try to see things the way i see them.
Say you're sitting at home, doing your math homework.
It's really hard. You have to do like 30 problems, and you're in AP Calc BC, so they're all like impossible.
It takes you two hours to complete, and finally, at 12:30, you're done.
You give your excellent work a final look over, nod reassuringly to yourself, and hold the 2 double-sided sheets of paper between your hands.
You then take hold of them and rip your homework to shreds.
Why?
I'll get to that.
...right now.
SEE?!
Consider the Earth God's metaphysical homework.
Remember all that stuff in Genesis about it being "good" and then "very good" and such?
So was your math homework.
But here God's talking about destroying his creation.
Wrecking his work.
Why destroy the earth?
Clearly something needs to be done about humanity.
In Noah's time, he just flooded the place out and started over, but sometime in the future it's all going away.
Anyone ever play the Sims?
the Sims was always a pretty fun game... for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes your sims start being stupid.
They don't listen to you, the pee on the couch, they starve themselves... it's a complete mess.
After 20 minutes, everyone always ends up making a new game and starting over.
Think of Humans as sims, and think of God as the player.
We've been around for a few thousand years; you'd think that, in that timespan, we'd figure out how to listen to God.
We should know how to do what he says, to uphold his commands.
But the human race has proved itself remarkably bad at that.
We don't listen to God.
We ignore him.
In fact, many people just deny his existence.
How do you think it would feel to be God, with everyone completely denying that you created them?
It would be a bummer.
I'd wanna start a new game.
But what do you do with all the "sims" that actually listened to you?
Give them a way out.
John 3:16-21, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
There you have it.
God has given us a ticked out of this place; but still billions of people ignore it every day.
Men love the darkness because then they don't have to realize/admit/come out that they're wrong and evil.
We need to show them that that's completely foolish; Jesus said that the Light is in the world.
People who ignore the Way are like someone in a bright room who insists that it's dark.
"what? i can't see you!"
"i'm standing right here, the lights are on! you probably have your eyes closed."
And maybe that's it.
Everyone just has their eyes closed, so they can't see the Light that is Jesus Christ.
They don't understand, they don't want to understand... but if we can't get them to figure it out, they're gonna get swept away through God's judgment on HIS creation.
/nighttime ramble.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
On Understanding
New England is a rather unique place.
Historically, we have a high percentage of liberal activists, dating back to colonial times... that's what puritans were, after all... they wanted change in the way things were done, and kicked themselves out of england for it.
Modern times are different times, though.
We have socialists, anarchists, canadians, and Hillary supporters.
As a senior at my school once put it,
"Its like our school is off the rictor scale when comparing divisions. We mostly have moderates(conservatives), then we have extremists(the liberal majority). Our perspective is just skewed geographically."
The other group of kids at my school would appear to be those whose parents are catholics [read: kids from Exeter], who have been through ccd and all that... but have grown up with it simply thrust upon them.
For that reason, they know all about catholicism, (the religion part) but they don't really know how to be christians. Refreshingly, they're conservatives.
ANYway...
when it comes down to it, most people, at least around here, have NO IDEA what's in the Bible.
when the 4th quarter starts up i'm gonna start doing some kind of bible study or something to try to get people interested in what's inside them leather bindings.
But what's also interesting is how, when you try to explain something, they completely don't get it.
People have been taught ignorance about the Bible, so they have these predispositions on what christians believe... which are totally false.
And it's as if they don't want to hear the truth from an actual christian; they just want to prove themselves right.
Did i already say that it's frustrating?
Well, it is.
There was a verse today in Bible study about people having a veil over them so that they can't understand the Word... i wish i could remember it...
But, check out 1st Corinthians 1:18 & 19...
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'"
See.
People of the world simply can't understand why Christians believe the way we do.
In fact, a lot of christians [read: them religious catholics] don't understand why they believe the way they do.
As a side note, i think its interesting how Paul used the present tense in there... "us who are being saved".
It's worth pointing out that we aren't just saved and then that's it.
Salvation is an ongoing process that never stops. Hence why it's ongoing. And hence why Paul used the present tense, rather than say, the perfect (simple past).
Linguistic subtleties aside, Jesus said a pretty powerful statement in Luke 10:21.
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." [NIV]
So everyone who's seen Jesus Camp knows how easy it is for little kids to understand the Gospel. Contrarily, people who are regarded as "learned" (giggle) have no grasp on it whatsoever.
Who do we consider Learned?
How about my teachers who are all incredibly intelligent and well-versed in the world, but who are completely clueless towards Christianity.
Or politicians, doctors, scientists... so many of them just don't get it.
And Jesus praised God for this!
He was glad that God lets little children understand the Truth, whereas hardened, learned people of the World just can't grasp it.
You could also tie this back to the attitude of "childness"...
Luke 18:16
But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
The great irony with this whole thing is that we typically associate children with a lack of understanding.
How many times, when talking to a six year old or such, you have to be careful of how you say things so that you don't go over their head?
You can't talk calculus to a 5th grader.
You can't talk politics to a 7 year old.
BUT.
You can absolutely talk about the Kingdom of God... which is much more important.
God's got a pretty cool way of doing things.
Historically, we have a high percentage of liberal activists, dating back to colonial times... that's what puritans were, after all... they wanted change in the way things were done, and kicked themselves out of england for it.
Modern times are different times, though.
We have socialists, anarchists, canadians, and Hillary supporters.
As a senior at my school once put it,
"Its like our school is off the rictor scale when comparing divisions. We mostly have moderates(conservatives), then we have extremists(the liberal majority). Our perspective is just skewed geographically."
The other group of kids at my school would appear to be those whose parents are catholics [read: kids from Exeter], who have been through ccd and all that... but have grown up with it simply thrust upon them.
For that reason, they know all about catholicism, (the religion part) but they don't really know how to be christians. Refreshingly, they're conservatives.
ANYway...
when it comes down to it, most people, at least around here, have NO IDEA what's in the Bible.
when the 4th quarter starts up i'm gonna start doing some kind of bible study or something to try to get people interested in what's inside them leather bindings.
But what's also interesting is how, when you try to explain something, they completely don't get it.
People have been taught ignorance about the Bible, so they have these predispositions on what christians believe... which are totally false.
And it's as if they don't want to hear the truth from an actual christian; they just want to prove themselves right.
Did i already say that it's frustrating?
Well, it is.
There was a verse today in Bible study about people having a veil over them so that they can't understand the Word... i wish i could remember it...
But, check out 1st Corinthians 1:18 & 19...
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'"
See.
People of the world simply can't understand why Christians believe the way we do.
In fact, a lot of christians [read: them religious catholics] don't understand why they believe the way they do.
As a side note, i think its interesting how Paul used the present tense in there... "us who are being saved".
It's worth pointing out that we aren't just saved and then that's it.
Salvation is an ongoing process that never stops. Hence why it's ongoing. And hence why Paul used the present tense, rather than say, the perfect (simple past).
Linguistic subtleties aside, Jesus said a pretty powerful statement in Luke 10:21.
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." [NIV]
So everyone who's seen Jesus Camp knows how easy it is for little kids to understand the Gospel. Contrarily, people who are regarded as "learned" (giggle) have no grasp on it whatsoever.
Who do we consider Learned?
How about my teachers who are all incredibly intelligent and well-versed in the world, but who are completely clueless towards Christianity.
Or politicians, doctors, scientists... so many of them just don't get it.
And Jesus praised God for this!
He was glad that God lets little children understand the Truth, whereas hardened, learned people of the World just can't grasp it.
You could also tie this back to the attitude of "childness"...
Luke 18:16
But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
The great irony with this whole thing is that we typically associate children with a lack of understanding.
How many times, when talking to a six year old or such, you have to be careful of how you say things so that you don't go over their head?
You can't talk calculus to a 5th grader.
You can't talk politics to a 7 year old.
BUT.
You can absolutely talk about the Kingdom of God... which is much more important.
God's got a pretty cool way of doing things.
On Being Known
So we're studying some poetry in English class.
Today we went over a bunch of poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson.
Draw your attention to his Poem, "Richard Corey", reproduced below. And yes, it is the inspiration for a Simon and Garfunkle song.
Richard Corey
Whenever Richard Corey went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich- yes, richer than a king-
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Corey, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet though his head.
-Edwin Arlington Robinson
So there's a lot that we discussed in class about this poem, specifically regarding the 3rd line about "sole to crown", but what most stands out in the poem, i think, is the shocker of the last line.
If that line wasn't in the poem, you wouldn't have ever guessed the outcome of the situation staged by Mr. Robinson.
See, this poem is about, among other things, the fact that no one [the "we"] suspected that Richard Corey would shoot himself.
Clearly, he was battling something internal that he didn't let show.
Clearly, being rich and powerful amongst pavement-dwellers wasn't enough to solve whatever crisis he was going through; maybe that was in fact his problem.
This poem, along with a bunch of others that we read by the same author, seems to point out how many times we don't share everything that's going on in our lives.
Think about it.
How many of your friends ACTUALLY know everything about you?
Chances are there's something you hide from everyone; maybe even yourself included.
And in the end, all it comes down to is that no one really knows everything about you. No one sees the world exactly the same way as you, no politician supports the exact same viewpoints as you... we're individuals.
BUT.
check out Psalm 139:1-4
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when i sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. [NIV]
HOW COOL IS THAT?
Your friends might not know you; they might think you're the richest, most awesome person ever, and you might secretly want to go home and put a bullet through your head.
Or vise-versa.
BUT, God knows what you're going through.
He knows everything about us, and knows why and how we do everything.
Jesus said it this way:
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14+15, NIV)
So keep in mind that you don't have to be like Richard Corey. We aren't alone, or by ourselves. We have someone who knows us better than ourselves. And that's pretty cool.
Today we went over a bunch of poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson.
Draw your attention to his Poem, "Richard Corey", reproduced below. And yes, it is the inspiration for a Simon and Garfunkle song.
Richard Corey
Whenever Richard Corey went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich- yes, richer than a king-
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Corey, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet though his head.
-Edwin Arlington Robinson
So there's a lot that we discussed in class about this poem, specifically regarding the 3rd line about "sole to crown", but what most stands out in the poem, i think, is the shocker of the last line.
If that line wasn't in the poem, you wouldn't have ever guessed the outcome of the situation staged by Mr. Robinson.
See, this poem is about, among other things, the fact that no one [the "we"] suspected that Richard Corey would shoot himself.
Clearly, he was battling something internal that he didn't let show.
Clearly, being rich and powerful amongst pavement-dwellers wasn't enough to solve whatever crisis he was going through; maybe that was in fact his problem.
This poem, along with a bunch of others that we read by the same author, seems to point out how many times we don't share everything that's going on in our lives.
Think about it.
How many of your friends ACTUALLY know everything about you?
Chances are there's something you hide from everyone; maybe even yourself included.
And in the end, all it comes down to is that no one really knows everything about you. No one sees the world exactly the same way as you, no politician supports the exact same viewpoints as you... we're individuals.
BUT.
check out Psalm 139:1-4
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when i sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. [NIV]
HOW COOL IS THAT?
Your friends might not know you; they might think you're the richest, most awesome person ever, and you might secretly want to go home and put a bullet through your head.
Or vise-versa.
BUT, God knows what you're going through.
He knows everything about us, and knows why and how we do everything.
Jesus said it this way:
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14+15, NIV)
So keep in mind that you don't have to be like Richard Corey. We aren't alone, or by ourselves. We have someone who knows us better than ourselves. And that's pretty cool.
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