Last week I wrote about human viciousness, about our innate tendency to anger and wrath. In the 13th chapter of the book of Nehemiah you find a story of the propensity of humankind to exactly this kind of hate. Pause for the reading of the Word.
Continue reading “Pretty Hate Machine”
Have you ever wondered why the Bible is so filled with blueprints for temples and cities and nations? The entire book is obsessed with structural engineering. When coupled with genealogical records it’s like half the book! A cubit this, or a handbreadth that. Soandso begat suchandsuch. This many thousand cattle and that many hundred shekels of something. Why? Was the Lord killing time? Ensuring you couldn’t memorize the whole book? Did civil engineers get a crack after King James’ scholars? Or is there, perhaps, a critical truth we overlook?
Continue reading “A Brick in The Wall”
I have a request, and I am asking you to please listen. If you are not a follower of Christ, and by that I mean if you do not know, and submit, to His reign in your life, please do not read this. Scroll by and later in the week I’ll post something for you. I beg you, please. Even if you think my stuff is interesting or funny or sometimes fun to mock, I am just asking you to pretend this one didn’t exist because I Love you and this isn’t for you.
Continue reading “The Local Dead”
Nehemiah 6:15 says “So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.”
I Love the book of Nehemiah; I find many parallels in it to my own leadership walk, and really to our lives in general. I find chapter 6 particularly pleasing, and let me tell you why: it is in this chapter that the enemy shows himself for all to see. I’ve jumped in to the middle, though, so let me back up.
Reagan’s farewell speech won him few friends. People, as people do, mocked his assertions that he did what he could. They pointed out all the places where he overstepped, got in over his head, or outright screwed up. They tore down his persona, trashed his age or his manner of speech, or his Superman-esque speeches about moral certitude. He was just another politician.
Memory is a funny thing. Over the weekend we drove through the town I grew up in and I was struck by the realization that there’s all these moments from my past that go away with me; that will be lost to the currents of time, as meaningless as a single drop in the rushing river. There’s these vast sands that make up me, who I am, that are only truly accessible to me; my own private sandbox. There are so many things in the world that can take them: injury, disease, dementia, death, etc. I can pick up any handful and play them back again, but how long until that isn’t so? How I came to be me could be lost so quickly. How fragile and ephemeral.
Continue reading “Light the Corners of My Mind”
Slight departure from working through the old testament this morning to swing by the book of John. I got very riled up by a series a local Baptist preacher has been giving on the radio for the last several weeks. The Spirit pointed me here.
Bit of a language lesson today!
It’s really long, sorry. Like, really really long; if it were a sermon I’d probably be over an hour. Skip to the end if it bores you; this is the short version of what I think may be a book by the time I’m done and I mostly posted it hoping to get some input from my pastor.
Repeat after me: there is no such thing as darkness, there is only dimmer light.
In His Arms 