Opposites

As I was praying this morning, a thought came in to mind. There is only one eventuality. Eventually, this walk will be over and we'll all be where we are now going. Be that unto blessing or not.

Then the thought grew and I had a small laugh. I'm doing a "Leadership Course" right now and one of the things it teaches leaders to do is to "plan for all possible eventualities". Now I think it's funny that the infinite mind of God is focused on one eventuality, and the finite mind of man is often focused on trying to plan for all seemingly possible ones.

Just now, I was reminded of Matt 5:48 "You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Maybe I should be thinking of that one eventuality which is sure in Christ, and not all the others, which are not sure.

Finding out what's in my heart

I'm listening to the radio right now. John MacArthur is talking about trials - nice coincidence there. He just said the most amazing thing, which reminded me of a question I have had recently. I have asked friends, and God "How do I know if my heart is right?" That's a more valid question than you might think at first.

Anyway, this preacher just noted "God allows tests and trials so that we can learn what's in our heart."

I will need prayer today, so if you're reading this please ask Our Lord to shore up my faith and give me words and silence as needed that I might be a good witness in the midst of this turmoil.

Open your big mouth..

Well it looks like the enemy doesn't like my recent boldness and has decided to start an all out assult on my family and I.

I rebuke this attack in the Holy Name of Christ Jesus. In His name it will come to no avail.

Trust Beyond Understanding.

Two days ago I was walking around my house with my chubby cat Ashley in over my shoulder. We do this fairly often, she stays up until she sees something that she wants and then she's off to have her own fun. This time she saw a window sill and turned around in my arms trying to get onto it. Now this window was covered by heat-shrinkable plastic (to keep the place warm) as it's leaks. When she went to get onto the sill she hit her nose on the plastic (not sure why her whiskers didn't "detect" it first). What was really interesting is she never took her eyes off her goal, but she started moving her head in a way to avoid hitting the unseen plastic.

She felt the effects of something unseen and didn't question it, she just went with the flow. Now we are commanded to test all spirits so don't just submit to any "unseen force".. that wouldn't be cool would it?

So where have I put feet to this? Well this week God made the seemingly impossible, possible. We took possession of a 2006 Nissan X-Trail yesterday. We've wanted this vehicle for a year, and in my own strength and negotiating skills it just wasn't going to happen. After a year of not being able to come even close to the payment we needed, God did it in 15mins when after He prompted me to go to the dealership. Now right now doesn't seem like a great time to get a new car. If I were going on my own understanding it just wouldn't seem wise. However He's at the wheel of my life now and I'm going with the flow. We are just trusting Him.

Honesty and Truth

The Lord was so very good to me this weekend. Not only were negotiations on my next vehicle successful, God let me play with the worship band ARISE this Sunday. Anyone who serves at the Lord's pleasure will understand what an emotional and joyous thing this was. I thank God that He allowed me to lead others into worship.

Having spent a fair amount of time in the local 'cover band circuit' I understand there are many factors that lead up to a good or bad performance. Preparation, song selection, timeliness of the performance, the make up of the audience. There's so much that goes into it that people make whole careers out of helping performers have successful shows - and rightfully so. What happens after a good show, or a bad one, is as important as what happens before it. There will always be a next performance, even if you're sure at the time you'll never get hired again. It's important to honestly asses the results of all your prep, how the show went, exactly what went right and wrong. It's not a science, but it does need a somewhat scientific approach to picking apart how well the 'art' was carried out.

So I have to say, I didn't perform anywhere near my best this Sunday. The band as a whole failed in the prep time, but that should not have resulted in my performance being less than professional. In an E-Mail to the head of the band I explained everything in detail and offered suggestions to better the next service. I did this with the full expectation of not being able to play with the band again. People, even us Christian types don't often like to be told an other person's opinion.

I was going to post that it would all be worth it even if I wasn't allowed to play with the band again. However, to the band leader's great credit, I received a very positive E-Mail just as I was writing the above paragraph. Laurie is a rare person, someone who can put up with my personal take on things and not be offended. I say my personal take because no matter how much anyone thinks of themselves, or how experienced they are, we all only see what 'we' see.

We can each try to be as honest as possible, but still not tell the 'TRUTH'.

There is a biblical concept in all of this, didn't you know I was going there? The difference between "what is right for you and I" and "TRUTH" is that truth is absolute, unchangeable and not determined by the observer.

The Word of God is Truth because it is beyond the authority of the observer (man). We can't change it. It is what it is because God said so.

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me

Such famous words from our King, they have confused so many of us for so long. Myself included. You see I was completely 'schooled' by a Messianic Jew yesterday after church. Ask yourself what Matt 27:46 means and we'll get started.

There are several common interpretations/explanations of this verse. You may fit into one of these 2; 1. Jesus was all man and all God. This was a prayer to the Father based on His humanity, it was a plea. 2. Jesus, bearing all the sins of the world on Him had to be separated from God the Father and this just shows His humanity feeling that separation for the first time.

#1 Doesn't work because Christ is portrayed as selfless in the rest of the Word, and since He is unchanging it can't be biblical for Him to change at the last moment. This also would be implying He doesn't trust the Father when the chips are down. This can not align with the rest of the Word.

#2 Is the position I formerly held, and it is just as much in error. It is often said that God can not be in the presence of a sinner or sin, and therefore since Christ was bearing our sins He had to be separated from the Father. His statement would then have been a verbal indication of this separation. This of course is un-biblical as well, because Satan was in the Father's presence in Heaven, and in the heavens. Moses was face to face with Him. Adam was with Him. Since He is Jesus, God the Son and He didn't "give up His spirit" until after saying this, as recounted in Matt 27:50 it is plain to see that God the Son was on the Cross to the end. Therefore there was no separation.

So lets look at what I now believe is the proper understanding of this passage. When we read the section in whole we can then see the context of what Christ was doing, and what was happening. A great teaching tool is to begin a section of the Bible verbally and get people to finish it. So if I say "Our Father Who art in Heaven..." You would begin to speak this. And if I say "My Lord is my Shepard..." You would begin to say this. You see where I'm going don't you? I guess I'm not that sneaky... or is it that this really is an effective tool?

Our Lord began to say "My God, My God why have You forsaken Me.." and one of those there who sought to kill Him "immediately ran" with sour wine. Imagine what would happen to His dry mouth if He were to have taken that vinegar. It would have puckered up His mouth. In effect this person immediately ran to shut Our Lord up. This is because the person knew what He was doing.

Jesus was getting those there, and us now, to remember Psalm 22. Which if you read it, and the accounts of His crucifixion you will quickly see it is a prophesy of how He was to be killed. He was indicating to those there that they were seeing prophesy fulfilled right in front of their eyes! Glory!

Our Lord was never selfish. Even on the Cross He was teaching and showing His glory! He is and always has been and ever will be, perfect.

Superbowl XL - this post has little to do with it.

As I sit here trying to watch the big game and fit some study in I can't help but watch the foolish commercials. In Canada you can see the American commercials if you watch the game on a HD channel. I had to laugh at the FedEX commercial. While the lie of Evolution is put forward, they have to insert humans into the supposed time period that dinosaurs lived in - which of course most evolutionists say didn't happen. The thing is actually well made with very good special effects and it's pretty funny... or it would be if it weren't so sad.

What REALLY sticks with me after watching it is this. The idea of just changing what "must have happened back then" to fit the current wants or ideas of whoever is trying to make a point or sell the public on an idea at the time - is the very same thing that happens in schools, labs, printing presses and so very unfortunately churches every single day! And under the guise of legitimate scientific work, or "higher education", and supposedly being "unbiased".

The problem (setting aside all the scientific problems with it) with Evolution is it's not accountable to anyone! Anyone can say anything they want in any setting because there is no requirement for Evolution to be true... it only has to be popular.

Doesn't anyone remember that it's better to be true than popular? I guess that was "just a nice story" too...