Whit's End

Staring at the walls of my day to day life I imagine walking away into the unknown sunset where all possibilities merge like rivers before an ocean.

I look at my hands, the life within. These walls and this air have no room for me or the life dwelling inside. I want to express myself and be human. I long to discover the power in my soul and get off this Tatooine planet.

But this is not my walk. This is not now. To arrive at the delta marks the end of the river. To achieve whit's end and say "I shall not want" marks the beginning of the ocean.

God will not open the seas for our discovering until we learn to read His nature. Without him we will crash back on the shore or fall prey to the South Seas.

If I allow room for self-discovery in my soul then God cannot have his complete way with me. If I want all that today has for me I must first let all ambition go and achieve the whit's end of my self.

The Jordan River

Beyond the Jordan river lies my promise. My soul thirsts for something I can't explain. I'm discovering more and more the reality that I can't cross the Jordan until it's time.

"All things work together for good to those who love God

 and are called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

I have a tendency to get complacent and bored as I wait for the bridegroom to come. Many times I have burned all my oil seeking pleasure and entertainment. But I always hold dear to those nights waiting for God to come while my friends and colleagues laughed and cheered pursuing and achieving success.

Why do I spend my nights staring across the Jordan? The times I turn away lead me to a shut door. Behind a voice says, "I do not know you."

While I wait in these field herding my sheep I must settle for lions and bears because without them Goliath will defeat me. My confidence is still skin deep and my talk is big. All things work together a lot faster when I learn to wait on the Lord. That's what I'm learning, to wait.

"Not my will but Yours be done on earth as it is in heaven."

From Chaos Comes Clarity

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Nick Hexum might not have meant what I mean by my title but I'll run with it. In this post I'm basically quoting Oswald Chambers and letting it reflect off the other posts. 

Oswald writes

"When the Holy Spirit comes into a man 'his beauty is consumed away', the perfectly ordered completeness of his whole nature is broken up; then the Holy Spirit, brooding over the chaos that is produced, brings a word of God, and as that word is received and obeyed a new life is formed."

Lately, I've realized it's not about redeeming what was once innocence in me. I need my slate wiped clean. That means all the victories and defeats are with Christ.

Scapegoat - Bad Parent

Have you ever allowed blame to be placed on another even though it was technically your fault? But since the actions leading up to the incident were instigated by another you drop the gavel and escape judgment? But really no one cares but you so you really just screw your conscience?

Now for something completely different

For all 1 of you that reads this I thought I'd change the subject a little. To the right is me and my little boy, Malachai. He's awesome and does nothing but the usual food processing steps. With Lucia I wasn't as excited because I had never seen a person grow into an individual. But with Malachai...I mean, that's my boy, and I've watched Lucia grow 2 1/2 years. Bottom line, life is good. There's a lot of philosophical mumbo-jumbo that is worthless crap compared to enjoying a child's company, which isn't always the easiest.

I looked at my iPod the other day and thought, "I've got a lot of stuff." I wouldn't classify myself as a over-achieving consumer I just thought how I sometimes look at my bank account to see how I'm doing and forget to enjoy what I have.

I think Derek Webb said it best:

"But I get turned around

I mistake some happiness for blessing

But I'm blessed as the poor

Still I judge success by how I'm dressing."

Faith My Eyes

Evidenced Based pt 2: The Battle Between God and Science

The battle between God and Science is a funny conflict. Pope John Paul II said a good thing.

"The Bible itself speaks to us of the origin of the universe and its make-up, not in order to provide us with scientific treaties, but in order to state the correct relationship of man with God and with the universe. Sacred Scripture wishes simply to declare that the world was created by God, and in order to teach this truth it expresses itself in terms of the cosmology in use at the time of the writer...Any other teaching about the origin and make-up of the universe is alien to the intentions of the Bible, which does not wish to teach how the heavens were made but how one goes to heaven."

In other words, the Bible is a Spiritual Word about Man's relationship with God and His creation. It should no be used as a scientific text book. That doesn't mean it can't be used, but doing so degrades the Bible to the level of science.

Furthermore, we read in Hebrews 11 that it is

"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."

This says nothing to the validity of evolution. We may conclude from Biblical genealogy that the Earth is 6,000-8,000 years old, but that's back to the fall of man. I've heard it explained that evolution requires death and mutation. Therefore, God would not use evolution since there was no death before Adam sinned.

At the genes level it's not so much mutation as it is change. Just as many different skin colors and body types came from one man and woman so many different species could have come from a simple genetic makeup. As for the death, stemming from a survival of the fittest standpoint, I cannot conclude God creating something imperfect.

Thus to my point. There is validity in science, but it does not answer the theological questions. It can't. If we fly to the moon and calculate our weight using -9.8 m/s2, the gravities acceleration on Earth, we will arrive at an incorrect answer. If we return to Earth and assume we can jump like we did on the moon we will fall much faster than we think.

The Spirit and the flesh are different. The Spirit cannot measure the flesh, and the flesh cannot measure the Spirit. May I emphasize the word CANNOT!?! Now, we are flesh and Spirit and so should look to God's Word and Science. Though let us not confuse which measures what.

"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."

In order to understand beyond us, into the infinite land where beauty and the strength to love is born, we must lay down our security in our own understanding and reach out to that which passes all understanding. Just like marriage is my relationship with my wife, faith is my relationship with God.