tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75584509853725916102024-03-13T13:22:03.593-07:00Dennis the EremiteThis blog is mostly sermons, reflections and poetry of a currently retired (as of August 31, 2019) pastor residing in Mattawa/Desert Aire, Washington. An eremite is someone who lives in a wilderness or desert of some kind. I have often lived in remote places. Early Christian eremites lived under the discipline of solitude within the discipline of community. I'm learning how to be simultaneously retired and yet in continued ministry as a Christian in the Body, the Church of Jesus. dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.comBlogger501125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-52981406784620130722023-04-08T00:20:00.001-07:002023-04-08T00:20:54.671-07:00"Good Friday: What the Lord Cannot Do" March 25, 2005<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZ8URDbcyzOhgXnGmVAQs71_9gybwehNY1kMehRK7z59t-v94PLh__eG08pL8_TqmnvAia6FGBihIVMs8pOMf6FoWZ9t1N-kJ62Vb12XwCjKXxkY3e6iiNFxRWTtcw4RvA7EK0fUeLY3pb0hnwe4gjyj5TuDqFifeNPc7MDgVwhMvZy6SkBl5rQwqIw/s1600/IMG_1601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="503" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZ8URDbcyzOhgXnGmVAQs71_9gybwehNY1kMehRK7z59t-v94PLh__eG08pL8_TqmnvAia6FGBihIVMs8pOMf6FoWZ9t1N-kJ62Vb12XwCjKXxkY3e6iiNFxRWTtcw4RvA7EK0fUeLY3pb0hnwe4gjyj5TuDqFifeNPc7MDgVwhMvZy6SkBl5rQwqIw/w671-h503/IMG_1601.JPG" width="671" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">By Dennis Evans - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">Scripture Readings: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">Luke 23:32-49; 24:50-56</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">Imagine that there was a proverb that said, “You can’t use
your Kayak and heat it too”. Truth is, it’s no different than a cake. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">In this sense God’s in the same boat as we are. Since God
is love, and since God loves the world, and since God loves us, he can’t have
his kayak and heat it too. God can’t have certain things both ways. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">Jesus being God, is in the same kayak. He can’t give us a
ride in it and keep it warm at the same time. Since God is love, he can’t not
be love. Since Jesus is love, he can’t not be love. If God and his Son live in
love toward us, they have to put this first. In the scripture we have read.
Since Jesus is love, he must save us, and, to do that, he cannot save himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">The rulers said, “He saved others, let him save himself if
he is the Christ of God.” (Luke 24:35) But that was the one thing that Jesus
could not do. That is, he could not save himself if he was determined to do
what he came to do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">Let’s see what Jesus came to do, as expressed in his words
on the cross. These, by the way, are not all his words on the cross, but they
are the ones Luke tells us about.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what
they do.” (23:34) If he could have waved his hand to indicate who should be
forgiven, he would have waved it over the whole crowd. He would have waved it
over the rulers of Israel who had hated him and hunted him and caught him at
last and demanded his death on the cross. Jesus would have waved a forgiving
hand over the crowd of those who chanted “Crucify! Crucify!” Soldiers. Roman
governor’s palace. Friends standing far off. Peter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">What Jesus came to do was to make us forgiven sinners: to
see two things, our sins and our forgiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">To forgiven us, Jesus made himself the victim of all our
sins. The innocent. The vulnerable. It was always said that all sin was truly
directed against God. Therefore, only God could truly forgive sins. If anyone
would object to this, it became true in Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">The rabbis have sometimes said that a human being can only
forgive sins that have injured themselves. A human cannot forgive sins that have
injured another. But in Christ all sins have injured God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">If Jesus had saved himself, he would have had almost nothing
to say about forgiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me
in paradise.” (23:43) As humans it is beyond our mere nature to be able to
survive death. Jesus was and is stronger than death, if we belong to Jesus, we
cross a bridge we could not have built, we pass through a door we could not
have opened. If Jesus had saved himself, there would be no bridge, no door.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
(23:46) For Jesus, death was not an act of surrender; it was an act of faith.
When we are in Christ this is true for us as well. And it is not exactly the
whole truth to say that Jesus was giving his death as a gift. Jesus was giving
his life as a gift. His whole life had been that way. When we belong to Jesus
we belong to God in our death, and we belong to God in our life too, as long as
we live.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 200%;">If Jesus had saved himself, it could not have been said
that he gave himself in his living and dying to God, in faith. And we could not
have done this in faith, without him. The fact that he did not save himself is
the reason we can live and die with confidence in God, no matter what.<span style="font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-27554720493950205452023-02-18T20:31:00.001-08:002023-02-18T20:31:16.121-08:00“Seven-Fold Benediction”<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhais9KWuEmfcWmA6POWtsSufnHoUqKz3iBQ6z70mis0ovdhVYTDrBb1-XZ7lkVUl4hAsSCLZIrFkxIivmM19eg49fEnsefJzNewpbeKHFOGRcmS0mFT_ku7JrlLd2giDfx1ONo9ys8_rN6cESRXIVoiWCOwGpzk1dYLI8lNCMQYnqLtEVvloM0sjKmLg/s3264/IMG_4030.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhais9KWuEmfcWmA6POWtsSufnHoUqKz3iBQ6z70mis0ovdhVYTDrBb1-XZ7lkVUl4hAsSCLZIrFkxIivmM19eg49fEnsefJzNewpbeKHFOGRcmS0mFT_ku7JrlLd2giDfx1ONo9ys8_rN6cESRXIVoiWCOwGpzk1dYLI8lNCMQYnqLtEVvloM0sjKmLg/w366-h240/IMG_4030.JPG" width="366" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">May the Fruit of the
Spirit,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">Bring health and
nourishment.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">May the Gifts of the
Spirit,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">Enrich your needs and
joys.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">May the Mind of Christ,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">Teach understanding, and
decision-making.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">May the wounds of Christ,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">Walk beside you, embrace
you, and wash you.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">May the heart of Christ,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">Circulate though you a new
life, and love.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">May the Father Creator;</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">Show you the design, the
process, and the purpose.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">May the Father of love:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14pt;">Declare: “You are very
Good”!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Adobe Devanagari";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(Dennis Evans; February
18, 2023)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-26763213584746876822023-01-19T20:37:00.003-08:002023-01-19T20:51:27.109-08:00Love Me in Winter, Most of All<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMMDFqluTRfO-9qSpwtGgBuqWHRlw8r-uQc2bz_SqZJUaHvUnHUiq4qATcfg4aNXXsvBSzMt3oHxfqWCVtGP6Oyw05nuiRGWgAkPMzVMF7zkXZlpA9Gn3mp8YjKXTlOkb5LOkQo7KcFcfcppNsvaL6TuHNupf56g_FSjJ_VBWHzHhXpOFiXsgmDcPTPQ" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5152" data-original-width="3864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMMDFqluTRfO-9qSpwtGgBuqWHRlw8r-uQc2bz_SqZJUaHvUnHUiq4qATcfg4aNXXsvBSzMt3oHxfqWCVtGP6Oyw05nuiRGWgAkPMzVMF7zkXZlpA9Gn3mp8YjKXTlOkb5LOkQo7KcFcfcppNsvaL6TuHNupf56g_FSjJ_VBWHzHhXpOFiXsgmDcPTPQ=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt;">O his Frog was freezing,
and so was he,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As the cold snow fell, and
the chill wind blew.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So we went to the
haberdashery,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For a hat for our saint
and Toady too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Will you love me in Summer,
Spring and Fall?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Will you love me in Winter
most of all?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So, we bought two bonnets
and a scarf so fine,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As the cold snow fell, and
the chill wind blew.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And Good Albert was glad
for folks so kind,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who will comfort the
Saints and Toadies too!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Will you love me in Summer,
Spring and Fall?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Will you love me in Winter
most of all?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Impress BT"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(By Dennis Evans, written
at Aquinas Institute/ University of Dubuque Theological Seminary om the winter
of 1976-1977, to celebrate the decoration of the statue of Saint Albert Magnus,
holding Book and Frog/Toad, in a courtyard. The actual knitting was done by a
team including: Pat Engstrom, Lori Billings, Terry Thomas, and Gretchen Daneke.
Dennis Was a scout acting to protect the team from being seen.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0Desert Aire, WA 99349, USA46.6792986 -119.917267218.369064763821157 -155.0735172 74.989532436178848 -84.7610172tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-77457182876471884742022-11-16T00:01:00.005-08:002022-11-16T00:02:12.561-08:00 “ALL HALLOWS”<p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXw0SCOtow5TeWdWXsQ7EvTB5ZU1FF4SYYpVoQIGbplReI8qrdR9tsmy_EHewomSL763_tNvHxyw7boiZXzY79-4AhvFkddEDSS7WiFofcodUYW3omwzHgo2CtaCOVKYoC8RJiviY4uA-Vh6zTGBbB3gwDTajAyUBrK5HGp1nrqbsIXZyzaSYzAH7OJA/s5152/IMG_0002.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3864" data-original-width="5152" height="505" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXw0SCOtow5TeWdWXsQ7EvTB5ZU1FF4SYYpVoQIGbplReI8qrdR9tsmy_EHewomSL763_tNvHxyw7boiZXzY79-4AhvFkddEDSS7WiFofcodUYW3omwzHgo2CtaCOVKYoC8RJiviY4uA-Vh6zTGBbB3gwDTajAyUBrK5HGp1nrqbsIXZyzaSYzAH7OJA/w673-h505/IMG_0002.JPG" width="673" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">Embrace
the golden splendor where it breaks</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">From
folds of God-washed garments. The shimmering<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Harvest
of this field of friends ripens in<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">The
light reflected from the light which falls<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Upon
the broadening crowd. Breathe in reverence!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">And
whisper wondering, life-awakening words:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Living
words inspired by rising beauty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Contagious
witness, praise, ripples the field <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Of
souls; praise at their glimpse of One enthroned:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">“World-Making-Saving-Word!”
The unity<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Redemption’s
tide) where love and justice meet<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">With
wounded hands (to bring the ransomed home)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Begins
the chorus. Sung from one heart,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">It
spirals to an all-including round,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Resurging,
swelling on, in waves of time;<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">And
to the beat of ages echoing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">So,
in the Lord’s eternal feast, the share <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Of
glory, joy, and praise will always grow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: times;">(By Dennis Evans - </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 12pt;">As seen during an All Saints Day sermon preached by
Dr. Paul Francis, at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, in 1975;
revised.)</span></i></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-18171131758357663182022-10-05T15:20:00.001-07:002022-10-05T15:20:35.105-07:00"2 Corinthians: For Those Who Have Their Treasure in Clay Pots"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQGWKYtodafQ_DO7H8BNHKuOFNnPvbbeyaDWE3XO0qONFp6yq_Bmh4RqFq3SBw7wZ-mY8HKaPWadwvtBxD4Hb_iQPSl1BR4ll2ux0YZ6vG5uezuY1PNrmmIH4otzWvkM2cMYlGmfiu-NA_Krunv269MIAr-1AvESHOHmX0VBoT9ik7iUzPezYBchnCw/s5152/IMG_0001_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3864" data-original-width="5152" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQGWKYtodafQ_DO7H8BNHKuOFNnPvbbeyaDWE3XO0qONFp6yq_Bmh4RqFq3SBw7wZ-mY8HKaPWadwvtBxD4Hb_iQPSl1BR4ll2ux0YZ6vG5uezuY1PNrmmIH4otzWvkM2cMYlGmfiu-NA_Krunv269MIAr-1AvESHOHmX0VBoT9ik7iUzPezYBchnCw/s320/IMG_0001_1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Crown of Thorns</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2 Corinthians can play a unique role in spiritual and vocational formation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In 2 Corinthians, Paul describes
the formal components of the Christian message, teachings, and lifestyle in
very personal ways and in application to his own life.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Reconciliation:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Spiritual and
incarnational: Christ makes us a new creation, and agents/servants of the new
creation, and the righteousness of God: 5:16-21.</span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1:3-10,
God becomes our Comforter (advocate, encourager, reinforcement) in the face of
our fear, depression, and failure. My first call provoked what really was a
clique that controlled the congregation to get the presbytery to remove me from
the church, which seriously hampered my ability to seek further calls. I seemed
doomed, and this haunted my ministry for years. How has God reinforced our
efforts to face and challenge our fear, depression, and failure?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">4:7-18,
God grace enables our own reconciliation with our flawed, sinful selves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1:17-22,
God becomes our Hope of victory; all of God’s promises will say “Yes” to us.
(Has God made us able to face challenges in hope that your efforts will bear
fruit?)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">3:12-18;
4:6, God becomes our friend: love and grace and covenant in Christ initiates
communion, communication, spiritual perception, friendship. How do we enjoy God’s
friendship?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">7:2-16,
God becomes our reconciliation with others. (The presence of God in Christ
enabled me to relate to others without fear.) Has God enabled this in our lives?<o:p></o:p></span></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Motivation:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Empowerment and Discipline
and Humor<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Empowerment:
5:1-10, God motivates a faith-based courage, knowing that defeat and loss and
the end of important endeavors will not have the last word. (I believed that
God was calling me to ministry in the Presbyterian Church and the Church seemed
predisposed to rejecting my calling, But God told me I should seek this anyway.)
How has God called us to seek what seems guaranteed not to work?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Discipline:
1:11, God motivates prayer: Asking others to pray for us; 12:7-8, maintaining our
own repeated prayer for our own growth; 1:15-16, 1:23-2:4 God motivates learning
through one’s mistakes and experience. What might these disciplines require of
us?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Humor:
11:30-33, God motivates a sense of humor: boasting about being lowered over the
city wall in a basket, so laughing at his own troubles and hardships, instead
of boasting; 12:8-10, God says “My strength is made perfect in weakness” so I
will boast about my weaknesses. (When I first came under care of presbytery in
an attempt to be a candidate for the ministry; the loudest voices doubted my
stamina for facing adversity or criticism. At my ordination, one of those presented
me with a band aide to keep in my wallet for when I might get hurt.) --- How
does God assist our motivation to serve by assisting our sense of humor? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s true that Paul was very capable of making a sarcastic
apology, and he does this a lot in 2 Corinthians, especially in 12:11-13. Does
sarcasm have a place in Christian life and service? Did Paul have a purpose in
this sarcasm?</span></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Incarnation: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How do we embody this work of God in our lives?</span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Embodiment
of the message of the victory of God in Christ through endurance and positive,
constructive, and affirming relationships with others: 6:1-11. I never stopped
doing this, even with those who don’t accept me. How do we try to do this?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
embody God’s truth through honesty and confession: again see 1:23-2:4.<o:p></o:p></span></p></blockquote>
<br /><p></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-31396301414608372662022-09-22T22:52:00.006-07:002022-11-07T14:22:49.526-08:00“Love’s Worth: A Theological Speculation"<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I do not know if I know
how to love;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Love truly, wholly, and
unstoppably.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So, do I, can I, simply
give my heart<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To be invested in the
treasures God<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Creates within the
lives he shows to me?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I might not love what
God has made of me!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The self I do not love –
can it love God?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some say that God loves
all, including me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Infinite loves all
infinitely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because of me alone,
may this make God<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The infinitely
unrequited Lover?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">(Dennis
Evans, September 2022)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrUEred8BfFnS3e1ActiYcKzz5AUZhH1ajftAIFS84TutK0OcpFzQB6MEslCGI-yEaDOndqyFvr8OHfV-4q6XxqXcqpieV9BXDHgiISato__kk4-9eXauB2U1z4gVpNT9haiAhExPb-gFEIAplEBDg69Ouv_PRP9e32MX7t3xSVF7eg65B4rjiyg4wDg/s5152/IMG_0032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3864" data-original-width="5152" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrUEred8BfFnS3e1ActiYcKzz5AUZhH1ajftAIFS84TutK0OcpFzQB6MEslCGI-yEaDOndqyFvr8OHfV-4q6XxqXcqpieV9BXDHgiISato__kk4-9eXauB2U1z4gVpNT9haiAhExPb-gFEIAplEBDg69Ouv_PRP9e32MX7t3xSVF7eg65B4rjiyg4wDg/w593-h396/IMG_0032.JPG" width="593" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><p></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-85212485643914658672022-09-05T10:55:00.000-07:002022-09-05T10:55:22.694-07:00Thomas Merton: "Thoughts in Solitude: VI"<p>First week in September 2022, I came across these lines in Merton's "Thoughts in Solitude: VI" and felt amazed and deeply moved by them. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyvKh6WBabLQQY_v0eLlZxVE8Uf4pmJR9j9m6dzy5SsmpXpxAf5lxg8Esdd7-OS-gbsGt7MbaJhMug7x17nmRZ7E9QnkMlnqABZEGj1sPCtHIi8cutc9EEyNvSJaFBZXJjgF305bYUPvNbKgFkbWgeLguo4o_1eXdwkXHOJASy5TrpucrTGO77SExrw/s5152/Merton%20Text%20IMG_0017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3864" data-original-width="5152" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyvKh6WBabLQQY_v0eLlZxVE8Uf4pmJR9j9m6dzy5SsmpXpxAf5lxg8Esdd7-OS-gbsGt7MbaJhMug7x17nmRZ7E9QnkMlnqABZEGj1sPCtHIi8cutc9EEyNvSJaFBZXJjgF305bYUPvNbKgFkbWgeLguo4o_1eXdwkXHOJASy5TrpucrTGO77SExrw/w502-h377/Merton%20Text%20IMG_0017.jpg" width="502" /></a></div><br /><p></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-51275259209481791572022-08-17T15:06:00.018-07:002022-10-05T15:01:05.235-07:00BONES in the Bible. A Brief Study in Response to a Brother’s Question<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNhAE-3pSNfpnpdj-J8bYv7ScqhWFXgOlvNTZRx20sUL84gfAESEURqINlofcx0eOkXxICv6tjsXwfzWBcuFpnWIfBoSaiMi46lT82HZlnzRJgMSkJgfgMTPiNw16BMP-TFxu1sJEPyBETl-JAJv7dNnY-qBidZO7Z_mWhPhWNOkUn1vnwFkORVcUlfQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="657" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNhAE-3pSNfpnpdj-J8bYv7ScqhWFXgOlvNTZRx20sUL84gfAESEURqINlofcx0eOkXxICv6tjsXwfzWBcuFpnWIfBoSaiMi46lT82HZlnzRJgMSkJgfgMTPiNw16BMP-TFxu1sJEPyBETl-JAJv7dNnY-qBidZO7Z_mWhPhWNOkUn1vnwFkORVcUlfQ=w411-h373" width="411" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #161314; font-size: 16px;">(Isenheim Altarpiece, 1512-1516</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #161314; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #161314; font-size: 16px;">Matthias Grunewald)</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Exodus 12:43-49 (but especially verse 46)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Psalm 34 (but especially verses 19-20)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">John 19:31-37 (especially verse 36)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bones in the Old Testament (and in OT Hebrew
thinking) are part of the soul/life of a person, a family, a friendship, a body
of people (like the nation of Israel, or the Church the Body of Christ, or - I
think - the whole people or kingdom of God (as in: "you are my flesh and
bone", or "bone and blood", or other variations).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our bones knit us together (make us whole,
one, united). Our bones make us whole in the sense of making us strong, or able,
or properly functional.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Passover Lamb, as a sacrifice, and as the
basis of the Passover meal, is a mediator, and a promise, and a bond on the journey from Egypt to the Promised land, from slavery to freedom. The Lamb represents God, and
God's promises (as being strong, and well tied together, and complete) for the journey. The Passover Lamb represents Israel/God's people (including the Church), who are an offering to God as one
body, and one soul for the journey. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus is the wholeness of God coming to us, and the wholeness of us, ourselves, including all of God's beloved people and
creation. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus is (incarnates) the offering of
Israel, and of the house of David, and of the whole of the Church: offering to
God the wholeness that we cannot give to God because of our fallenness. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In Christ our self-giving will be whole,
entire, perfect, strong, fully functioning; and this will be fulfilled in us
when God finishes his work of making a new heaven and earth. But we can have some connection with this in our lives now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It represents how we stand before God and
each other in faith, hope, and love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the end, we can count on God's promise that we will not be broken, just as Christ remained unbroken for us. Sometimes, by the Lord's grace and gift, we can experience being held within this promise now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
<span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Brother! Thank you for
asking about the bone and the unbroken bones in the Bible, because it's an
issue that we Christians do not deal with very consistently or thoroughly.
Usually, we deal with these issues from different "pivot points" than
through "the bones".</span></p><p><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgO_sF9BRhDB4EJovNUh_vtvFNsCdApF31N-1CaKivsUpjz6aM0tErSYt7Xb5eFldPimF1OCU_A-pHaxQmc9SAl5GMAQ5TKAo5DkKeJe8EpLWYgJ29-Meg-DLCWgj8dWCS_rY5coh_MIf7I6L-AVbfTMp3CSk5F8B2f4w3oKUpWJfThifTsZ3atDEygvw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="221" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgO_sF9BRhDB4EJovNUh_vtvFNsCdApF31N-1CaKivsUpjz6aM0tErSYt7Xb5eFldPimF1OCU_A-pHaxQmc9SAl5GMAQ5TKAo5DkKeJe8EpLWYgJ29-Meg-DLCWgj8dWCS_rY5coh_MIf7I6L-AVbfTMp3CSk5F8B2f4w3oKUpWJfThifTsZ3atDEygvw" width="233" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span color="rgba(33, 36, 44, 0.64)" face="Lato, "Noto Sans", Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif, Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">, (From </span><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(33, 36, 44, 0.64); font-family: Lato, "Noto Sans", Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif, Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ghent Altarpiece, by</em><span color="rgba(33, 36, 44, 0.64)" face="Lato, "Noto Sans", Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif, Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span color="rgba(33, 36, 44, 0.64)" face="Lato, "Noto Sans", Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif, Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Jan van Eyck</span><span color="rgba(33, 36, 44, 0.64)" face="Lato, "Noto Sans", Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif, Helvetica, Corbel, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">, completed 1432)</span></div><p></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-68939827160570062852022-04-09T23:23:00.001-07:002022-04-09T23:27:36.259-07:00 “The Cross Beams”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NFDA8v-xmnnvxkDio8HWrWrOkWwosWIKqkOyqrYbD_jcIkRE3YvNSiCZAVbjleUEfdWV1QvRwlU93euiPkA1JzIcDT7PeHwA_6HI9mKLWBDrbabxcTlkgzEe-gKKS_XF83jET-aSaPslbD_QaWmzQNXKJXo9HdAGwCQ59xiddO0QFYexetU51cfCQg/s2592/IMG_7933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1944" data-original-width="2592" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NFDA8v-xmnnvxkDio8HWrWrOkWwosWIKqkOyqrYbD_jcIkRE3YvNSiCZAVbjleUEfdWV1QvRwlU93euiPkA1JzIcDT7PeHwA_6HI9mKLWBDrbabxcTlkgzEe-gKKS_XF83jET-aSaPslbD_QaWmzQNXKJXo9HdAGwCQ59xiddO0QFYexetU51cfCQg/s320/IMG_7933.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">-“The Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8) -</span></i><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world are made from wood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">They’re
fastened with nails and stained with blood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Embraced by the
outstretched arms of God,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">They bind all
things for good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world shore up our heart<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">For God’s
renovation, every part:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The clean up of
Satan’s poison dart;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Then our true
life shall start.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world are battle torn. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">They rise
against evil, fear, and scorn.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Protecting the
weary, weak, and worn,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">They guard the
coming morn.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world an outline trace,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Through order
and chaos, pain and grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">They shape what
they bear, through time and space,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Revealing God’s
true face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world are scales that weigh<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The worth of a
life, a choice, a day,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">By weight of a
God who works in clay,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">And dies to
have his say.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world are lines and bars<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">That carry the
music of the stars;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The ballad of
long and hopeful wars,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Where God has
won his scars.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world hang low with fruit,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">While sliver
and thorn send forth their shoot<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Where God hung
his head, forlorn and mute,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">And bowed to
plant their root.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world, unseen, untold,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Are stronger
than steel, more royal than gold.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">All heaven and
earth they gently hold:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The hands of
God enfold.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The beams of
the world enthrone a King,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Like girders
that tower, and vault, and spring<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The crossing he
died and rose to bring:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">The life the
angels sing!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><i>(Written by Dennis Evans, October 2004)</i></span>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-76943914607964970222022-02-19T17:22:00.004-08:002022-02-20T08:39:03.055-08:00"I'm Scared"<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lord Jesus, of the Great Heart,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Rescue me from my fears.<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Make me to not fear my fears,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Make me to not fear my loves!</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(written February 19, 2022)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRuXrx0Gzhp-PK2gd1GajatRgx8cAFxkIlXTfKoH_z1fuGNWxodd16F79HuexvZcaU5lfKeR1ihYL01VC9ba5xPOy8mdbMB7caXaHStZ3HmFpFbUlPTLSFboGbH-KvpaKaUFE732AQLCGQCH6K9l_T8au9e67Q_fgsv4JARWldJWnR85XDTBiebbFpSw=s3648" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRuXrx0Gzhp-PK2gd1GajatRgx8cAFxkIlXTfKoH_z1fuGNWxodd16F79HuexvZcaU5lfKeR1ihYL01VC9ba5xPOy8mdbMB7caXaHStZ3HmFpFbUlPTLSFboGbH-KvpaKaUFE732AQLCGQCH6K9l_T8au9e67Q_fgsv4JARWldJWnR85XDTBiebbFpSw=s320" width="320" /></a></div></div>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-43464587434009546132021-07-04T20:07:00.001-07:002021-07-04T20:17:28.927-07:00HAIKU - "Cries"<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8P9Oint0DAU/YOJ3CQZU8wI/AAAAAAAAIU4/iwKFRWutGgAe5oLxUtZXVJRyA6PdPNzWACLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6396.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8P9Oint0DAU/YOJ3CQZU8wI/AAAAAAAAIU4/iwKFRWutGgAe5oLxUtZXVJRyA6PdPNzWACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6396.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />(From Psalm
61:1-4)<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #444444;">
<br />
<span style="background: white;">I cry from world's end;</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Ah, the friendly talons grasp.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Come rest! Come eyrie!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">(Summer 2020)</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-85513498958516492162021-07-03T22:54:00.004-07:002021-07-03T22:54:57.128-07:00“The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men"<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XAbxSi63I1Q/YOFLTLkoVjI/AAAAAAAAIUw/ZthiAw24Ow4vZZcXqvyKtPk52v5TDBP-gCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="414" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XAbxSi63I1Q/YOFLTLkoVjI/AAAAAAAAIUw/ZthiAw24Ow4vZZcXqvyKtPk52v5TDBP-gCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="166" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Excerpts taken by Dennis Evans from a sermon by John Witherspoon. The Reverend John Witherspoon was a Scottish Presbyterian and missionary in the American British Colonies. He was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1; page-break-after: avoid;"><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"A sermon preached at
Princeton, on the 17th of May, 1776. Being the general fast appointed by the
Congress through the United Colonies.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Scriptures: Psalm 76:1-12; Acts 4:23-31</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt thou
restrain.” Psalm 72:10<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
is not a greater evidence either of the reality or the power of religion, than
a firm belief of God’s universal presence, and a constant attention to the
influence and operation of his providence. It is by this means that the Christian
may be said, in the emphatical scripture language, “to walk with God, and to
endure as seeing him who is invisible.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> The doctrine of divine providence is
very full and complete in the sacred oracles. It extends not only to things
which we may think of great moment, and therefore worthy of notice, but to
things the most indifferent and inconsiderable; “Are not two sparrows sold for
a farthing,” says our Lord, “and one of them falleth not to the ground without your
heavenly Father”; nay, “the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> It extends not only to things
beneficial and salutary, or to the direction and assistance of those who are
the servants of the living God; but to things seemingly most hurtful and
destructive, and to persons the most refractory and disobedient. He overrules
all his creatures, and all their actions. Thus, we are told, that “fire, hail,
snow, vapor, and stormy wind, fulfill his word,” in the course of nature; and
even so the most impetuous and disorderly passions of men, that are under no
restraint from themselves, are yet perfectly subject to the dominion of the
Lord. They carry his commission, they obey his orders, they are limited and
restrained by his authority, and they conspire with every thing else in
promoting his glory. There is the greater need to take notice of this, that men
are not generally sufficiently aware of the distinction between the law of God
and his purpose; they are apt to suppose, that as the temper of the sinner is
contrary to the law of God, so the outrages of the sinner are able to defeat
the purpose of God; than which nothing can be more false. The truth is plainly
asserted, and nobly expressed by the psalmist in the text, “Surely the wrath of
man shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In discoursing on this subject, it
is my intention, through the assistance of divine grace: 1.) To point out to
you in some particulars, how the wrath of man praises God. 2.) To apply these
principles to our present situation, by inferences of truth for your
instruction and comfort, and by suitable exhortations to duty in the important
crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In the first place, the wrath of man
praises God, as it is an example and illustration of divine truth, and clearly
points out the corruption of our nature, which is the foundation stone of the
doctrine of redemption. Nothing can be more absolutely necessary to true
religion, than a clear and full conviction of the sinfulness of our nature and
state. Without this, there can be neither repentance in the sinner, nor
humility in the believer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Justly does our Savior say, “The
whole have no need of a physician, but those that are sick. I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Those who are not sensible that they
are sinners, will treat every exhortation to repentance, and every offer of
mercy, with disdain or defiance. But where can we have a more affecting view of
the corruption of our nature, than in the wrath of man, when exerting itself in
oppression, cruelty and blood? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Secondly, the wrath of man praiseth
God, as it is the instrument in his hand for bringing sinners to repentance,
and for the correction and improvement of [God’s] own children. What ever be
the nature of the affliction with which he visits either persons, families, or
nations; what ever be the disposition or intention of those whose malice he
employs as a scourge; the design on God’s part is, to rebuke men for iniquity,
to bring them to repentance, and to promote their holiness and peace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Thirdly, the wrath of man praiseth
God, as he sets bounds to it, or restrains it by his providence, and sometimes
makes it evidently a means of promoting and illustrating his glory. There is no
part of divine providence in which a greater beauty and majesty appears, than
when the Almighty Ruler turns the counsels of wicked men into confusion, and
makes them militate against themselves. The scripture abounds with instances,
in which the designs of oppressors were either wholly disappointed, or in
execution fell far short of the malice of their intention; and in some they
turned out to the honor and happiness of the persons or the people, whom they
were intended to destroy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> From the New Testament I will make
the choice of that memorable event on which the salvation of believers in every
age rests as its foundation: the death and sufferings of the Son of God. This
the great adversary, and all his agents and instruments, prosecuted with
unrelenting rage. When they had blackened him with slander, when they scourged
him with shame, when they had condemned him in judgment, and nailed him to the
cross, how could they help esteeming their victory complete? But oh the
unsearchable wisdom of God! They were but perfecting the great design laid for
the salvation of sinners. Our blessed Redeemer, by his death, finished his
work, overcame principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in his cross. With how much justice do the apostles and
their company offer this doxology to God, “They lift up their voice with one accord,
and said, Lord thou art God which hast made heaven and earth, and the sea, and
all that in them is; Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did
the Heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth
stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against
his Christ. For of a truth, against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of
Israel were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before to be done.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> (In our own example) The violent
persecution, which many eminent Christians met with in England from their
brethren, who called themselves Protestants, drove them in great numbers to a
distant part of the world, where the light of the gospel and true religion were
unknown. Some of the American settlements, particularly those in New-England,
were chiefly made by them; and as they carried the knowledge of Christ to the
dark places of the earth, so they continue themselves in as great a degree of
purity, of faith, and strictness of practice, or rather a greater, than is to
be found in any protestant church now in the world. Does not the wrath of man
in this instance praise God? Was not the accuser of the brethren, who stirs up
their enemies, thus taken in his own craftiness, and his kingdom shaken by the
very means which he employed to establish it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Proceed now to the second general
head, which was to apply the principles illustrated above to our present
situation, by inferences of truth for your instruction and comfort, and by
suitable exhortations to duty in this important crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In the first place, I would take the
opportunity on this occasion, and from this subject, to press every hearer to a
sincere concern for his own soul’s salvation. There are times when the mind may
be expected to be more awake to divine truth, and the conscience more open to
the arrows of conviction, than at others. A season of public judgment [such as
this day of fasting declared by the Continental Congress] is of this kind, as
appears from what has been already said. Can you have a clearer view of the
sinfulness of your nature, than when the rod of the oppressor is lifted up, and
when you see men putting on the habit of the warrior, and collecting on every
hand the weapons of hostility and instruments of death? I do not blame your
ardor in preparing for the resolute defense of your temporal rights. But
consider I beseech you, the truly infinite importance of the salvation of your
souls. Is it of much moment whether you and your children shall be rich or
poor, at liberty or in bonds? Is it of much moment whether this beautiful
country shall increase in fruitfulness from year to year, being cultivated by
active industry, and possessed by independent freemen, or the scanty produce of
neglected fields shall be eaten up by hungry publicans [tax collectors]? While
the timid owner trembles at the tax gatherers’ approach? And is it of less moment
my brethren, whether you shall be the heirs of glory or the heirs of hell? Is
your state on earth for a few fleeting years of so much moment? And is it of
less moment, what shall be your state through endless ages? Have you assembled
together willingly to hear what shall be said on public affairs, and to join in
imploring the blessing of God on the counsels and arms of the united colonies,
and can you be unconcerned, what shall become of you forever, when all the
monuments of human greatness shall be laid in ashes, for “the earth itself and
all the works that are therein shall be burnt up.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I beseech you in the most earnest
manner, to attend to “the things that belong to your peace, before they are hid
from your eyes.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> You may rest assured that there is
no time more suitable, and there is none so safe, as that [time] which is
present, since it is wholly uncertain whether any other [time] shall be yours.
Those who shall first fall in battle, have not many more warnings to receive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Suffer me to beseech you, or rather
to give you warning, not to rest satisfied with a form of godliness, denying
the power thereof. There can be no true religion, till there be a discovery of
your lost state by nature and practice, and an unfeigned acceptance of Christ
Jesus, as he is offered in the gospel. I do not speak this only to the heaven-daring
profligate, or groveling sensualist, but to every insensible secure sinner; to
all those, however decent and orderly in their civil deportment, who live to
themselves and have their part and portion in this life; in fine to all who are
yet in a state of nature, for “except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.” The fear of man may make you hide your profanity; prudence and
experience may make you abhor intemperance and riot; as you advance in life, one
vice may supplant another and hold its place; but nothing less than the
sovereign grace of God can produce a saving change of heart and temper, or fit
you for his immediate presence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> It would be criminal inattention not
to observe the singular interposition of Providence hitherto, in behalf of the
American colonies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> How many discoveries have been made
of the designs of enemies in Britain, and among ourselves, in a manner as
unexpected to us as to them, and in such season as to prevent their effect [and
success]? What surprising success has attended our encounters in almost every
instance? Has not the boasted discipline of regular and veteran [British] soldiers
been turned into confusion and dismay, before the new and maiden courage of [our
own] freemen, in defense of their property and rights? In what great mercy has
blood been spared on the side of this injured country? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some
important victories in the south have been gained with so little loss. The
signal advantage we have gained by the [British] evacuation of Boston, and the
shameful flight of the army and navy of Britain, was brought about without the
loss of a man. To all this we may add, that the counsels may say with truth,
that there is hardly any step which they have taken, but it has operated strongly
against themselves, and been more in our favor, than if they had followed a
contrary course.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I am satisfied that the confederacy
of the colonies has not been the effect of pride, resentment, or sedition, but
of a deep and general conviction, that our civil and religious liberties, and
consequently, in a great measure, the temporal and eternal happiness of us and
our posterity, depended on the issue. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
knowledge of God and his truths have from the beginning of the world been
chiefly, if not entirely confined to those parts of the earth where some degree
of liberty and political justice were to be seen, and great were the
difficulties with which they had to struggle from the imperfection of human
society, and the unjust decisions of usurped authority. There is not a single
instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty
preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the
same time deliver [our] conscience into bondage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I shall now conclude this discourse
by some exhortations to duty, founded upon the truths which have been
illustrated above, and suited to the interesting state of this country at the
present time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> First, suffer me to recommend to you
an attention to the public interest of religion, or in other words, zeal for
the glory of God and the good of others.
…What I have in view is to point out to you the concern which every good
man ought to take in the national character and [national] manners, and the means
which he ought to use for promoting public virtue, and bearing down impiety and
vice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Second, I exhort all who are not
called to go into the field [of war], to apply themselves with the utmost
diligence to [work]. [Work} is a moral duty of the greatest moment, absolutely
necessary to national prosperity, and the sure way of obtaining the blessing of
God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In the last place, suffer me to
recommend to you frugality in your families, and every other article of
expense. [When this spirit of frugality] pervades a people in general, they are
fit for every duty, and able to encounter the most formidable enemy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Upon the whole, I beseech you to
make a wise improvement of the present threatening aspect of public affairs,
and to remember that your duty to God, to your country, to your families, and
to yourselves, is the same [identical duty]. True religion is nothing else but
an inward temper and outward conduct suited to your state and circumstances in
providence at any [given] time. And as peace with God and conformity to him,
adds to the sweetness of created comforts, while we possess them, so in times
of difficulty and trial, it is in the name of piety and inward principle, that
we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the
invincible soldier. God grant that, in America, true religion and civil liberty
may be inseparable, and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one may, in the
issue, tend to the support and establishment of both.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p></div><h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /></h1>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-21234179846705707462021-06-22T13:25:00.002-07:002021-07-04T20:12:16.819-07:00"Mindful Silence": A Study of a Book by Phileena Heuertz<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-29KFtQrJS-s/YNJGt0puplI/AAAAAAAAIUg/mjRDGYfxtNg_5Ld26ge5MT_Jt22wd5jYACLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6547.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-29KFtQrJS-s/YNJGt0puplI/AAAAAAAAIUg/mjRDGYfxtNg_5Ld26ge5MT_Jt22wd5jYACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6547.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">A LESSON ON - “MINDFULL SILENCE: THE HEART OF CHRISTIAN
CONTEMPLATION” (Phileena Heuertz, Author, Intervarsity Press)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u>Scripture Verses on At-One-Ment with God</u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Behold, the kingdom of God is in
the midst of you.” Luke 17:21<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">He who believes in me, as the
scripture has said, “Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Jn7:38<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">But if Christ is in you, although
your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of
righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal
bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you. Rom. 8:10-11<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no long I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Galatians 2:20<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><b><u>Excerpts from the Book, and Some Questions. </u></b> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Contemplative spirituality is a
way of seeing…. Contemplative practices are those that create margins to pay
attention to and observe our life…. It involves some introspection --- not for
the sake of inner knowledge, but for the sake or living a more skillful life…
Contemplative prayer offers an antidote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Through contemplation we find alleviation of our personal suffering, and
we discover how to minimize our infliction of suffering on others. Over time,
as we engage in contemplative practice, we become less self-absorbed and able
to be of greater service to others. (pp. 7-8)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u>What lesson from God has
made you more skillful about living?<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I wondered, “If people are
basically victims victimizing, and God created us, then surely God must answer
for this. God must be to blame. I thought, “Perhaps God is not all that good
after all… Father Thomas’ teaching… helped me realize that I didn’t need to be
troubled or discourage by God’s felt absence and grueling silence… I found
courage to give myself to the silence with all of its darkness, questions,
doubt, and pain. And it was there, in the great deafening silence, that I woke
up. (pp.12-13)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u>How have you wrestled with
God’s silence? <o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Eventually, as we stay faithful to
the dark night of prayer, God will uncover the root of our sickness. There a
wound of separation from God and others is exposed that can now receive
healing. Finally, our defenses are dismantled and the burning flame of God’s
love breaks though our consciousness. We realize we are in God and God is in
us. (p. 92)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u>How have you experienced the
healing of the wound of separation?<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We just have to learn how to open
to the grace that overcomes the obstacles that keep us from knowing God’s
presence. We do this, not by our own willpower, but by responding to grace and
cooperating with the divine. When we practice letting go of all thoughts,
feelings, distractions, and preoccupations of the mind, we then learn to
overcome the obstacles that keep us from God and our true self. Then we can
move by faith into a state of unknowing, a state of open and receptive
awareness, where direct encounter with God is more likely. (p. 156)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u>When do you most need to
have a quiet mind?<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Your family and community need you
to be a courageous pilgrim on the spiritual journey. God knows our world needs
your bravery too. The more of us who commit to the contemplative path – the
path of seeing, observing, and taking responsibility of our life through
meditative practice – the more possible it will be to experience God’s presence
in the center of our being. From that center, we can build the world we all
want to live in. (p. 173)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u>Where do you exhibit a God-given
courage?<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><u>Where do you experience
“at-one-ment?<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><u>A
POEM BY THE AUTHOR<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Let
it be done to me according to your Word<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Let
me be a womb for you<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Come
Lord<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Be
conceived in me anew<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Fill
me with your presence<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">And
then break me open in your process of redeeming* the world.</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><i>(*referring to “at-one-ment/return to unity)</i></div><o:p></o:p><p></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-64191466704997219202021-03-27T15:38:00.007-07:002022-03-29T09:58:09.217-07:00“The Miracle of Trust: The Drowning”<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4VWrMCncas/YF-zWtIexQI/AAAAAAAAIPo/FtjCWvWIN5Ub2xQeQ4xlLe9ncViou9i9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_1361.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4VWrMCncas/YF-zWtIexQI/AAAAAAAAIPo/FtjCWvWIN5Ub2xQeQ4xlLe9ncViou9i9wCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_1361.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feather River, near Live Oak, CA<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">(Written ’21 March 2021)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">(Psalm 69:1-3a)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">It was early June, 1969, the
week before High School Graduation in Live Oak. It was “Senior Skip Day” when
the bus took our class for a fun day-off at a reservoir called Camp Far West, in
the Sierra Nevada foothills, near Beale Air Force Base. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">I launched myself, alongside
one of my best friends, to swim to the floating platform out from the beach. It
was pretty far and, although I knew how to swim, I got tired and began to sink
below the surface of the lake. I struggled against this, but down I went. I
tried to relax, and float back up, but down I went. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">I was scared to death. I
thought: “God I’m dying!”. God planted a thought in my head: “Trust me!”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">Then I thought that, if only I could
make myself sink far enough, then I could kick myself up from the bottom. I could
see bottom. (Later I learned that bottom was probably about 12 or 15 feet below
the surface.) My feet touched mud. I let myself sink even lower so I could
really kick hard. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">All this happened in less than
the longest time a normal seventeen-year-old kid can hold his breath. Yes! I started going up. Yes! But my lungs hit their limit. So help me, I just couldn’t hold it in any longer. I just couldn't do it, no matter how hard I wanted to hold back.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">I had to inhale, and I knew that it
would have to be my last breath. Before I could reach the top, I took it in,
and everything went suddenly black. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">Then, everything
went bright. I was like a bullet, or a rocket, shot into a blinding, blue, brightness.
I was afraid, now, because I was going so fast; but there was no way to stop myself.
There was nothing to hold onto; and I had no hands, no body. On I went, and,
suddenly, I was belly down on the beach, coughing up water, while coach Clark
was shoving on my back to resuscitate me. (Later, I learned that Charlie Lucas
had swam up to the spot where I was and had caught hold of me and swam me back
to shore.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">I told everyone, when asked,
that I wanted to spend the rest of the day with them. I took a swell, exciting
ride in the Graham’s speed boat. Picnicked with the others, and came home on
the bus late that afternoon. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">My friends commented on how purple
I had been when Charlie had gotten me out of the water. I walked the half mile
home, although a bunch of people offered me a ride. I got home exhausted. My
Mom asked me how it was. I said “Fine” as I went straight to my room. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">I took out the old King James
Bible that had been my Dad’s in Sunday School, although he had never shown much
interest in it. I opened the Bible at random, and the first words I read were
Psalm 69:1-3a. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">“Save me, O God, for the
waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, and there is no
foothold. I have come into the deep waters; I am worn out calling for help. . .
“<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">These, being the first words
that I read after drowning, hit me like a wonderful slap on my back; and in the depths of my
heart. These words seemed suddenly like a greater miracle than having been
saved from drowning. Or else, these words made the fact of my being alive again into the
confirmation that I was truly cared for by the One I could truly trust. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">Also, it was a life lesson about what it could mean when God tells me to trust him.</span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-74697531134681114232021-02-16T16:54:00.001-08:002021-02-16T16:54:13.240-08:00Bible Study: 1 John, Introduction<p>Bible Study 1 JOHN: INTRODUCTION</p><p><br /></p><p>CENTRAL THEME: Stated in the introductory verses and restated in the concluding verses:</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John 1:2-3 “...and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”</p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John 5:20 “We know also that the Son of God has come and given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true— even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”</p><p><br /></p><p>TWO HINGES OF THE LETTER:</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>God is light. (1:5)</p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>God is love. (4:8,16)</p><p><br /></p><p>AUTHORSHIP: Although neither the letters of John nor the Gospel of John refer to the apostle John by name, their common authorship was virtually universally accepted, and credited to John from traditions that come from the earliest part of the second century.</p><p><br /></p><p>DATE OF AUTHORSHIP: The Letters of John were probably written during the late first century, about 85-95 AD, based upon the issues addressed by the letters. We know from reliable historical sources (Polycarp, and others) that John lived into the reign of the emperor Trajan (ruling from 98 - 117 AD).<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>WHERE WAS IT WRITTEN?: John probably wrote his letters from Ephesus where he lived most of his later life.</p><p>WHAT WAS ITS DESTINATION: It has no address and it was probably addressed in general to the people of Asia Minor (what is now western Turkey) of which Ephesus was the capital.</p><p><br /></p><p>WHY WAS IT WRITTEN?: John wrote this letter to tell Christians to have confidence in the faith in the form that it was first taught them. Toward the end of the first century there was a trend by some to use Jesus as the center of a false mysticism (GNOSTICISM) that had had nothing to do with the traditions or covenants of the Old Testament, or the original teachings of the apostles. These mystical thinkers claimed to possess an “advanced form” of the teachings of Jesus that would only be comprehensible and welcomed by people who were more highly endowed, spiritually, than the average person. John said that there was no elite Christianity. The Christianity they had been taught from the beginning was the heart and core of the matter. Anything else was false teaching.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>JOHN TAUGHT THAT SOME THINGS ALWAYS BELONG TOGETHER:</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Truth and virtue.</p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The inseparable humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.</p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Love of God and love of others.</p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Faith and fellowship.</p><p>JOHN TAUGHT THAT SOME THINGS ALWAYS ARE IRRECONCILABLE. </p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Love of God and hatred of other believers.</p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Light and darkness.</p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Love of God and love of the world.</p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Children of God and sin.</p><p><br /></p><p>WHAT WERE SOME OF THE FALSE TEACHINGS?</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gnostics taught that there was a difference between Jesus and “The Christ/Son of God.” John taught: “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” (1 John 1:22)</p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gnostics taught that the Christ, the Son of God, did not really become Jesus, or become human. John taught: “Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God.” (1 John 4:2,3)</p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gnostics believed that Jesus and Christ were joined together at the point of Jesus’ baptism and that they separated before Jesus was crucified. John taught: “This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only but with the water and the blood.” (1 John 5:6)</p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Gnostics taught that, if you had enlightened knowledge, your spirit was free and it didn’t matter what your body did. John taught: “The man who says ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar...” (1 John 2:4)</p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Gnostics taught that even if an enlightened person did break the commandments, for the enlightened person it would not be a sin. John taught: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)</p><p>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Gnostics taught that there were special people who had “the seed of the Spirit” and these were able to grasp the hidden truths, these were an eternal elite to which ordinary Christians, with ordinary beliefs, could never rise, because they could never be truly spiritual beings. The Gnostics held that it was right to despise such as these. John taught: “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” (1 John 2:9)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>LITERARY STRUCTURE OF 1 JOHN: “Before we turn to the text we need to recognize the problems of analyzing John’s writing in a systematic way. Unlike Paul, John seldom argues a case, so it is difficult to trace a linear, logical progression of thought. The links between ideas are not always clear and the transition is usually very gradual.” David Jackman “The Message of John’s Letters” InterVarsity Press, p. 17. Jackman suggests we think of the letter as an inverted pyramid or cone based on the point of 1 John 1:1-4, or as a tour of a great hall of a splendid building united by an immense spiral staircase. </p><p><br /></p><p>I think John is comprehensible if you relax and look for the big picture. The pieces of the picture are like pearls or jewels on a long string, each different, each having something in common with the others. John uses endless repetition with variations, and especially explores the differences between absolute self-contradictions and elegant, revelatory, inspired paradoxes.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-83256411803524204322021-02-16T16:52:00.003-08:002021-02-16T16:52:09.903-08:00Bible Study: 1 John, Chapter 5<p>The First Letter of John</p><p>Chapter 5</p><p><br /></p><p>Read 5:1-12.</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When a person is born of God, who becomes the object of that person’s love?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What are God’s commands? (See 3:23.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the content of John’s faith? What does faith do? What does faith receive? Or what is the spiritual environment of the people of faith?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What do water and blood refer to in the story of Jesus? To what do they testify concerning the identity of Jesus or the mission of Jesus?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How does the Spirit extend the “testimony” to us?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Verse 10 describes two kinds or conditions of people. What are they?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Read 5:13-21.</p><p>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In verses 13-15, what kind of attitude does John what believers to have?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What does John say is the ideal relationship between the believers and God in prayer? (Also check one thing Jesus said about prayer in the Gospel of John 14:14.)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Might as well look into “the unpardonable sin”. (See Matthew 12:31-32, and parallels. Look at 1 John 1:7 seeing if it excludes any sin from forgiveness. Relate 1 John 1:18 to the issue of whether a Christian will be allowed by God to practice a sin that ends with death. Does 1 Jn. 5:16 say, specifically, that a Christian may be the one committing a sin that ends in death?)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How are verses 18 and 20 an answer to the problem presented in verse 19? (John is teaching here using the technique called “chiasm”, an ancient Jewish thought form.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>11.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is our relationship with Jesus in verse 20? And who is Jesus in this verse? Again, what does it mean, here, to “know” him?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>12.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>An idol is a fabricated god, a god created by human imagination, based on human desires or ways of understanding things. Jesus, according to John, is the true representation of God. How does devotion to Jesus keep us from pursuing false goals, or putting other things before the true God? </p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-68447395337621956922021-02-16T16:50:00.006-08:002022-02-04T19:58:03.288-08:00Bible Study: 1 John, Chapter 4<p>The First Letter of John</p><p>Chapter 4</p><p><br /></p><p>Read 4:1-6.</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>(Notes: A. The term “every spirit” means every person moved by a spirit to speak “prophetically”. Such persons might be inspired by the “Spirit of God” or else they might be inspired by a false, demonic spirit. B. The term “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” means that the man Jesus of Nazareth and the everlasting Son of God are one and the same person, in the flesh, not merely in appearance.) Imagine what would be implied by saying that, looking at Jesus Christ, we were either: not seeing the true God becoming truly human, or not seeing in Jesus the true God. What would that say about “The Gospel”.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How would the anti-Christ, anti-God, find an advantage in the false version of who Jesus Christ is?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why would “the world” prefer the false message over the true one?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What does it mean to overcome the false prophets? (In what we believe and what we do?)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How does verse 6 say that we can also tell the Spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Read 4:7-21.</p><p>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How does our love of one another relate to the message of the Spirit of Truth in the first six verses of this chapter? How does our love test the genuineness of our relationship with the truth?<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What does verse ten say about God’s level of involvement in human life? And what is the reason for this?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What does verse thirteen mean in light of Romans 8:15-16?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In verses 1 John 4:15-16, how does the identity of Jesus enable us to rely on the love of God?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How does love of others make us like Jesus and so cast out fear? For one thing, was Jesus ever afraid of his Father?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>11.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How is not loving our brothers and sisters in Christ the biggest and easiest of sins?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>12.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the cure for this? (Think about this before you look at 1 John 1:8-9.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>13.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What does this chapter teach us about God’s love? </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>14.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What does it teach us about Jesus Christ?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-45699404279090628182021-02-16T16:49:00.002-08:002021-02-16T16:49:22.205-08:00Bible Study: 1 John, Chapter 3<p>The First Letter of John</p><p>Chapter 3</p><p><br /></p><p>Read 3:1-10.</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In verses 1-3, what does it mean for us to be “children of God”?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How does the concept of being children of God help us understand what John means by lawlessness?</p><p><br /></p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In verse 5, what did Jesus come to do? And how did he accomplish this? What does this say about how he deals with the presence of sin in us?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Use what you learned in 1 John 1:8-9 to understand what John says about those who are born of God do not continue to sin.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How does 1 John 1:8-9 help us understand what it must be like to be “children of the devil”?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Consider the phrase: “Be what you are.” Apply it to this passage.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Read 3:11-24.</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why is it easy to be a murderer? Think of a couple of the countless ways one can carry out murder by John’s definition.</p><p><br /></p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why did Cain hate his brother? Have you ever known an example of that? What is the normal reason we think of for hating someone? What are Christians to do about the antagonism of the world toward us?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What inspires, motivates, and teaches a Christian how to love? How is this like or different from the standard models for love in this world?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What does verse 20 imply about God’s mercy?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Verse 23 tells us what gives us confidence before God. What is it?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Think of some alternate words for “believe.” What does 1 John 3:16 teach us about believing in Jesus Christ? How is this different from other ideas about “believing”?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How do John’s brand of believing and loving go together? What would one be like without the other?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What comes from this believing and loving (3:24)?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How, or by what means, do we experience God in us and ourselves in God?</p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-88248580114440142732021-02-16T16:47:00.006-08:002021-02-16T16:47:40.705-08:00Bible Study: 1 John, Chapter 2<p>The First Letter of John</p><p>Chapter 2</p><p><br /></p><p>Read 2:1-6.</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John frequently uses the phrase “little children” to address his people. What might this say about their relation to him? (Identify a possible double meaning here. I mean, by “double meaning” that some of John’s thoughts and the thoughts of scripture in general have two meanings: “a plain and a spiritual” sense, or “at temporal and an eternal” sense.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the motivation or the actual power that Christians have to leave sin behind? (Use these six verses. Possibly refer back to the first chapter.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>(Terminology Note: 1. Advocate: a defender or mediator in court; Atonement: a sacrifice made that brings mercy and a new life and a reconciled relationship) Discuss this basic role of Jesus on our behalf. (Possibly refer to Isaiah 53)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What evidence do you find in these verses to counter the claim that, if you belong to Christ, it doesn’t matter what you do?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Read 2:7-14.</p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“From the beginning” may have a double meaning. Consider what that might be. Relate Leviticus 19:18 to this double meaning.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So, in John’s thinking, why is this commandment old, and why is it new? (Not so much to do with time, you see.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Look at the condemnations in 2:4 and 2:9. What is the connection between being a liar and being in darkness?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Look at verses 2:10-11 and see what light and darkness are also equivalent to.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In verses 12 through 14, what if the three ages described three levels of Christian experience? What if each Christian is somehow all three? (The tripling and doubling are for poetic emphasis.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Read 2:15-17. </p><p>10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A lesson on the word “world”: consider how the following passages relate to the various meanings of the word “world”: John 1:3-4; Matthew 6:25-30; John 1:10-11; John 3:16-19. How does John define the world in 2:15-17 and how does his warning against loving the world fit among these various ways of seeing the world?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Read 2:18-25.</p><p>11.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What do verses 18-19 teach about the antichrists?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>12.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What do verses 22-23 tell us about what those antichrists taught?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>13.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What does “abiding” or “remaining” mean in verse 24?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>14.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Verse 25 indicates that “abiding” and “remaining” may have a double meaning. What would that be? Perhaps “eternal life” also has a double meaning?</p><p><br /></p><p>Read 2:26-29.</p><p><br /></p><p>15.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Compare 2:27 with John 14:26 and John 16:13. From whom do Christians get there understanding of the truth? So what does 1 John 2:27 say about the anointing of the Holy Spirit?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>16.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Very importantly, how does this anointing with the Holy Spirit’s witness to the truth relate to what Paul is doing in 1 John 1:4; 2:1; 2:7; 2:12-14; 2:21?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>17.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What kind of abiding or remain does John want us to do in 2:27? What will be the consequences of this abiding or remaining (see 2:28-29)?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>18.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the equivalent of John’s waiting/abiding in Matthew 24:42-44?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>19.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why would abiding/remaining in Jesus give us confidence at the prospect of his appearing or our appearing before him?</p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-13454400351839705492021-02-16T16:46:00.000-08:002021-02-16T16:46:01.333-08:00Bible Study: 1 John, Chapter 1<p>The First Letter of John</p><p>Chapter 1</p><p><br /></p><p>Read verses 1-4.</p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the subject of this letter and how does the author claim to have the authority to write about this?</p><p><br /></p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why is John writing this letter?</p><p><br /></p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What specific things are said about “the Word of Life” or “The Eternal Life” in these verses?<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Is “The Word of Life” a word (or message) or a life (a being)? See the Gospel of John 1:1-14.</p><p><br /></p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Where can “The Word of Life” be located? What is our relationship with this Word? And what comes from having a relationship with this word?</p><p><br /></p><p>Read verses 5-7.</p><p>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John says “God is light.” How do these relate to ‘God is light”...to say that we are to walk by the light, live by the truth, be purified from all sin? How does having fellowship with one another relate to this way of life?</p><p><br /></p><p>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How do these relate to “God is Light”...to walk in darkness, to lie and not live by the truth, and to lack being purified from all sin?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What are the two kinds of fellowship described in these verses?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Read verses 8-10.</p><p>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Verse 7 said that Jesus purifies us from all sin. Verse 8 says that we cannot truthfully claim to have not sin. Can both be true? How?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the condition of a person who says they have not sin, or that they do not sin?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>11.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If this chapter was your only source for knowing about Jesus Christ, what would it tell you about him?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-77706268211518632542020-12-26T16:19:00.013-08:002020-12-30T01:26:38.581-08:00"Brave Baby Tears"<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">VERSES:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Brave, Royal
Baby, with your Star</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">And shining
angel army choir,</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">You settle
where our dark worlds are,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">To anchor us
who wander far.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Into your
stable cave’s black night,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Your star and
armies bring their light,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">But never show
your strongest might<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Until your
weeping sings us right.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">CHORUS:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Come, Holy
Child, wash all our years;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Our tired
creation’s wounds and fears.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Then, through
your cross-born song of joyful tears,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">We’ll join your
singing kingdom as it nears.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(By Dennis Evans, December 29, 2020)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nCxHoaez8l4/X-fSmaZcB_I/AAAAAAAAIMo/m6bOzh8-WZgKpT5v6tlYSe1dzGc-D3q6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_9825.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nCxHoaez8l4/X-fSmaZcB_I/AAAAAAAAIMo/m6bOzh8-WZgKpT5v6tlYSe1dzGc-D3q6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_9825.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-81946630427532405682020-12-26T16:14:00.005-08:002020-12-30T01:00:09.313-08:00"Morning After Christmas"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25sRMUYzVk8/X-fRhOmoebI/AAAAAAAAIMY/T-xc5GuaagQq5GLt9FMVDP4s3eCDkvfzACLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6283.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25sRMUYzVk8/X-fRhOmoebI/AAAAAAAAIMY/T-xc5GuaagQq5GLt9FMVDP4s3eCDkvfzACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6283.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8lf6s6hylh0/X-fRhBYlCLI/AAAAAAAAIMU/efaiv8Zr7GYMFRWYD7EMC-vSayhza13PQCLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6284.JPG" style="clear: right; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8lf6s6hylh0/X-fRhBYlCLI/AAAAAAAAIMU/efaiv8Zr7GYMFRWYD7EMC-vSayhza13PQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6284.JPG" width="320" /></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">"MORNING AFTER CHRISTMAS"<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The Lord was
making snow on Christmas night,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">And served it
up fresh the morning after.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">He set it
bright upon his earthen plate;<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Upon its
garnish (sprigs of western sage).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">It made me
smile. I ate some, and gave thanks!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(By Dennis Evans, December 26,
2020)</i><o:p></o:p></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-66429312766683257162020-11-26T03:46:00.002-08:002020-11-26T03:47:55.128-08:00God's Thankful People<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Scripture Reading: Colossian 1:1-14</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VDvGtJytShs/X7-REnvh81I/AAAAAAAAIJ4/05FdbdpSESIoQLr2wYEQC6ZB6UqUXsAkwCLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6133.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VDvGtJytShs/X7-REnvh81I/AAAAAAAAIJ4/05FdbdpSESIoQLr2wYEQC6ZB6UqUXsAkwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6133.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">A mother and her little
girl were shopping for fun in a big mall, and they were in the women’s section
of a department store, trying on clothes. The mother was being helped by a sales
woman and, while they were trying on things, the saleswoman gave the girl a
stick of gum. So, the mother prompted her daughter, “Now honey, what do you
say?” And the little girl looked up with a smile, and said, “Charge it!”<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">We don’t always know how
or when to say, “Thank You!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Now Paul was almost always
thankful. Even when he had good reason to be angry or frustrated, even when he
was in a dungeon and could be tried and sentenced to death. This was because of
someone he wanted to be thankful for. Sometimes it is as if Paul said, “God
loves you so much, and I love you too. God has given you so much, and done so
much through you. What can I say to keep you going, and growing?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Paul had a love that
always wanted to give thanks. He always wanted to give thanks for other people,
and for the Lord’s presence and gifts in their lives.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">So, Paul (as he sits in
the filth and darkness of his dungeon) writes, in his letter to the
congregation in Colossae, to friends he has never actually met, but only heard
of. Paul says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the
love you have for all the saints/ God’s-people) --- the faith and love that
spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have
already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel/good-news that has come to
you.” (Colossians 1:3-6) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Think about this. Paul, in
the stench of a stone-lined hole in the ground, was happy because he was thankful.
Paul was thankful because someone else got the same thing he had gotten from
Jesus. Someone else had confidence in the same Lord who was helping him even
now. Someone else was learning to love others because Jesus loved them. Someone
else had hope because they knew that Jesus was the face of a God who would do
absolutely everything for them that they needed, and so much more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Paul was thankful because
he realized that he lived in a world where God was at work in others. He was
happy because others were happy: blessed by God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ozGqO8cTw8/X7-Rv_umCWI/AAAAAAAAIKs/szaAC8gWtLw43onaLQ4G9bYYALiis0CRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6131.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="2736" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ozGqO8cTw8/X7-Rv_umCWI/AAAAAAAAIKs/szaAC8gWtLw43onaLQ4G9bYYALiis0CRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6131.JPG" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">This is an important part
of thanksgiving: to see God at work in others, to see God at work in people all
over the earth. This is the fun of being part of a wedding, or a baptism. This is
what makes it fun to do things with kids. But it is more than fun. There is a
deeper pleasure in this. And not because you are being entertained, but because
you see something of great value.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">You see a husband or a wife
who is patient with their spouse without treating their spouse as a child, but
with respect and tenderness, because the Lord’s love has taught them what real
love is. You have friends whom you know are deeply praying to be good parents.
You hear the wisdom of the old as they talk about life, and death, and heaven.
You watch friends and neighbors working and playing together to make a
community, or a church. You learn the stories about how the Lord became a
reality to the people around you. Thanksgiving is what you want to do when you
see the gifts and treasures of God in the hearts of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">The
archeologists who discovered the old Egyptian tomb of King Tut (the Pharaoh Tutankhamen),
when they made their way down the underground passage, and broke a small hole
through the wall that blocked the way into the tomb. At first the hole was just
large enough for one of the men to squeeze his arms and head and shoulders
through, with a lighted lantern in his hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">As he
did this, in the lamplight, he saw the dusty gleam of gold and the glitter of
precious stones. He must have also, somehow, seen the thousands of years
between them, and the sight made him speechless. He froze at the sight of this;
as silent as the grave. Those standing outsaid wondered what was going on with
him. They kept saying, “What is it? Do you see anything? Do you SEE ANYTHING!!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Finally,
he got his voice back. He gasped his answer: “YES! Yes! Wonderful things!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Thanksgiving
comes from being a witness of wonderful things.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">In
Eastern religions, the truth is within you, and always was within you. It is
NOT a gift. It has always belonged to you, just as everything is a part of you,
and you a part of everything.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">But,
in the gospel, in the good news of Jesus Christ, everything is a gift. You
yourself are a gift. When you are a Christian, you are not thankful for what is
only yours alone; you are thankful for so many gifts beyond you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">God
himself is a gift. God doesn’t belong to you, even though you love him as your
own. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">God is
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God gave himself to us as a God of
an almost scary, radical, sacrificial love. God’s love either goes too far to seem
believable, or else he goes so far that you can’t come without God himself, in
Jesus, carrying you to himself; and you can’t come to him without being changed.
And this is his gift.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">And
you, yourself, are a gift. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” (Colossians 1:13) The
Lord’s whole purpose is to bring you home, as a gift for himself, a gift shared
by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">You
are the product of a daring rescue. It is a rescue that takes you from darkness
to light. And part of the light is to see yourself surrounded by gifts. You see
yourself surrounded by a sort of “Gift-Love”: The Gift-Love of God. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VMlqn4ZWyY0/X7-RHOulBYI/AAAAAAAAIKQ/n4Q__EmMpns_Wt13XfvouZwowWA0imJ6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6152.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VMlqn4ZWyY0/X7-RHOulBYI/AAAAAAAAIKQ/n4Q__EmMpns_Wt13XfvouZwowWA0imJ6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6152.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">God’s
light is our understanding God’s grace, God’s transforming love, in all its
truth, in all its beauty. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Because
grace is such a great thing, its truth is hard to grasp. It is hard to believe
in such an extravagant, unconditional love. But this is really the secret of
the Christian life. It’s this big gift, this big love, that enables us to live
in this world with a truly big faith, love, and hope in return.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">There’s
a story about a tourist in a famous museum in an old city. He saw another man
standing in front of one of those famous abstract paintings that are so full of
bright colors and strange shapes. The man just stood there looking, and looking,
and not moving on. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">That
other man was almost making a spectacle of himself. So, the tourist decided to
give it a try on his own. He stood beside the other man and looked, and looked,
and looked at what was spoken of as a great masterpiece. Finally, he made a wisecrack:
“I don’t see anything in that!” And the man who had stood there for so long
whispered to him: “Don’t you wish you could?” (Maxie Dunnam, “The Communicator’s
Commentary, vol. 8, p. 342f)<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Let’s
pray to see the wonderful things of the Lord around us in other people, and in the
creation, and in our own lives. Let’s pray to see those wonderful things of the
Lord, so that we can be God’s thankful people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">A mother and her little
girl were shopping for fun in a big mall, and they were in the women’s section
of a department store, trying on clothes. The mother was being helped by a sales
woman and, while they were trying on things, the saleswoman gave the girl a
stick of gum. So, the mother prompted her daughter, “Now honey, what do you
say?” And the little girl looked up with a smile, and said, “Charge it!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">We don’t always know how
or when to say, “Thank You!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Now Paul was almost always
thankful. Even when he had good reason to be angry or frustrated, even when he
was in a dungeon and could be tried and sentenced to death. This was because of
someone he wanted to be thankful for. Sometimes it is as if Paul said, “God
loves you so much, and I love you too. God has given you so much, and done so
much through you. What can I say to keep you going, and growing?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Paul had a love that
always wanted to give thanks. He always wanted to give thanks for other people,
and for the Lord’s presence and gifts in their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fLxS2-gDPTk/X7-UGOGGD0I/AAAAAAAAIK8/CwyG5h8KcqwcWRZ7uVqNtJzNIao-mYZXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6149.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fLxS2-gDPTk/X7-UGOGGD0I/AAAAAAAAIK8/CwyG5h8KcqwcWRZ7uVqNtJzNIao-mYZXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6149.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">So, Paul (as he sits in
the filth and darkness of his dungeon) writes, in his letter to the
congregation in Colossae, to friends he has never actually met, but only heard
of. Paul says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
we pray for you, because <br /><br />we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the
love you have for all the saints/ God’s-people) --- the faith and love that
spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have
already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel/good-news that has come to
you.” (Colossians 1:3-6) <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Think about this. Paul, in
the stench of a stone-lined hole in the ground, was happy because he was thankful.
Paul was thankful because someone else got the same thing he had gotten from
Jesus. Someone else had confidence in the same Lord who was helping him even
now. Someone else was learning to love others because Jesus loved them. Someone
else had hope because they knew that Jesus was the face of a God who would do
absolutely everything for them that they needed, and so much more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Paul was thankful because
he realized that he lived in a world where God was at work in others. He was
happy because others were happy: blessed by God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">This is an important part
of thanksgiving: to see God at work in others, to see God at work in people all
over the earth. This is the fun of being part of a wedding, or a baptism. This is
what makes it fun to do things with kids. But it is more than fun. There is a
deeper pleasure in this. And not because you are being entertained, but because
you see something of great value.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">You see a husband or a wife
who is patient with their spouse without treating their spouse as a child, but
with respect and tenderness, because the Lord’s love has taught them what real
love is. You have friends whom you know are deeply praying to be good parents.
You hear the wisdom of the old as they talk about life, and death, and heaven.
You watch friends and neighbors working and playing together to make a
community, or a church. You learn the stories about how the Lord became a
reality to the people around you. Thanksgiving is what you want to do when you
see the gifts and treasures of God in the hearts of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">The
archeologists who discovered the old Egyptian tomb of King Tut (the Pharaoh Tutankhamen),
when they made their way down the underground passage, and broke a small hole
through the wall that blocked the way into the tomb. At first the hole was just
large enough for one of the men to squeeze his arms and head and shoulders
through, with a lighted lantern in his hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">As he
did this, in the lamplight, he saw the dusty gleam of gold and the glitter of
precious stones. He must have also, somehow, seen the thousands of years
between them, and the sight made him speechless. He froze at the sight of this;
as silent as the grave. Those standing outsaid wondered what was going on with
him. They kept saying, “What is it? Do you see anything? Do you SEE ANYTHING!!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Finally,
he got his voice back. He gasped his answer: “YES! Yes! Wonderful things!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Thanksgiving
comes from being a witness of wonderful things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQqWPg1ZJ_8/X7-UFuoFzOI/AAAAAAAAIK4/uYlBsgtQZNQ3zfJYrv-zTE_1gR6XUEdigCLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6148.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQqWPg1ZJ_8/X7-UFuoFzOI/AAAAAAAAIK4/uYlBsgtQZNQ3zfJYrv-zTE_1gR6XUEdigCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6148.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>In
Eastern religions, the truth is within you, and always was within you. It is
NOT a gift. It has always belonged to you, just as everything is a part of you,
and you a part of everything.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">But,
in the gospel, in the good news of Jesus Christ, everything is a gift. You
yourself are a gift. When you are a Christian, you are not thankful for what is
only yours alone; you are thankful for so many gifts beyond you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">God
himself is a gift. God doesn’t belong to you, even though you love him as your
own. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">God is
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God gave himself to us as a God of
an almost scary, radical, sacrificial love. God’s love either goes too far to seem
believable, or else he goes so far that you can’t come without God himself, in
Jesus, carrying you to himself; and you can’t come to him without being changed.
And this is his gift.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">And
you, yourself, are a gift. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” (Colossians 1:13) The
Lord’s whole purpose is to bring you home, as a gift for himself, a gift shared
by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">You
are the product of a daring rescue. It is a rescue that takes you from darkness
to light. And part of the light is to see yourself surrounded by gifts. You see
yourself surrounded by a sort of “Gift-Love”: The Gift-Love of God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">God’s
light is our understanding God’s grace, God’s transforming love, in all its
truth, in all its beauty. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Because
grace is such a great thing, its truth is hard to grasp. It is hard to believe
in such an extravagant, unconditional love. But this is really the secret of
the Christian life. It’s this big gift, this big love, that enables us to live
in this world with a truly big faith, love, and hope in return.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">There’s
a story about a tourist in a famous museum in an old city. He saw another man
standing in front of one of those famous abstract paintings that are so full of
bright colors and strange shapes. The man just stood there looking, and looking,
and not moving on. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qcPErTWtNZo/X7-RGvi6URI/AAAAAAAAIKE/i0NVNQ9S-e8D8EYAwKoQB3Kdyy5rVRviwCLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_6161.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qcPErTWtNZo/X7-RGvi6URI/AAAAAAAAIKE/i0NVNQ9S-e8D8EYAwKoQB3Kdyy5rVRviwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6161.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">That
other man was almost making a spectacle of himself. So, the tourist decided to
give it a try on his own. He stood beside the other man and looked, and looked,
and looked at what was spoken of as a great masterpiece. Finally, he made a wisecrack:
“I don’t see anything in that!” And the man who had stood there for so long
whispered to him: “Don’t you wish you could?” (Maxie Dunnam, “The Communicator’s
Commentary, vol. 8, p. 342f)<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Let’s
pray to see the wonderful things of the Lord around us in other people, and in the
creation, and in our own lives. Let’s pray to see those wonderful things of the
Lord, so that we can be God’s thankful people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-60829907802842514922020-09-02T22:43:00.005-07:002022-02-04T20:08:17.985-08:00THE FOURTH GRADE CERTIFICATE OF HUMAN DECENCY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EUGtzSEpB7g/X1CFDiMh24I/AAAAAAAAIHk/y5i2YnFBZagNWQcc_0Whz31lDCPHDgI7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_6006%25232.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EUGtzSEpB7g/X1CFDiMh24I/AAAAAAAAIHk/y5i2YnFBZagNWQcc_0Whz31lDCPHDgI7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6006%25232.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE FOURTH GRADE
CERTIFICATE OF HUMAN DECENCY</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT", serif;">Your Fourth Grade Certificate of Human Decency: In
the fourth grade everyone is supposed to learn what it means to be a decent
human being.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No matter how much education,
training, and experience a person may have; they can never graduate to Certified Official
Adulthood without passing their Fourth Grade Certificate Examination.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT", serif;">No citizen should serve in public office,
at any level, without said certification.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT", serif;">The student will not earn their Life Certification
without mastering the following areas of decent behavior.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT", serif;">The standards of human decency
include, but are not exhausted by, the following principles of life:</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tell the truth, not just for
your own good but for the good of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Don't expect everyone to do things
your way.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Be a good sport: as a gracious winner
and a cheerful loser.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Be a team player. This is also good
citizenship.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stop arguments and rivalries and
fights.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">6.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Help others and encourage them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">7.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Include the kids on the sidelines to
get them to join in the game.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">8.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Never try to get someone put out of
the game.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">9.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Never make fun of other people or
mock them. Never call anyone names.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Americana XBd BT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Americana XBd BT";">10.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Always take (and show) a real interest in others. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Americana XBd BT",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Editor’s Note: In Political Life: Reagan
was pretty good at the 4th grade test. The Bushes were excellent, especially
when Barbara was watching.)</span></i></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7558450985372591610.post-22115395717057858772020-08-15T00:03:00.005-07:002020-12-28T19:11:25.891-08:00Haiku: "Faint Trails"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-enOyaEWyV6U/XzeH6kJyMtI/AAAAAAAAIGw/hdm6Lf1iO3EpDaKrelhu1sD9MAybBwfJwCLcBGAsYHQ/s3648/IMG_5872.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-enOyaEWyV6U/XzeH6kJyMtI/AAAAAAAAIGw/hdm6Lf1iO3EpDaKrelhu1sD9MAybBwfJwCLcBGAsYHQ/w328-h246/IMG_5872.JPG" width="328" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the wild . . . faint trails</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">With a purpose, pass unseen,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Till you walk
in them.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">(August 2020)</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>dennistheeremitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10801567321734091885noreply@blogger.com2