o heart, rejoice!

"See, the nails have penetrated through, and from both hands and feet gushes forth the blood of the Holy One.

O these nails have rent the rock of salvation for us, that is may pour forth the water of life; have reft the heavenly bush of balm that it may send forth its perfume.

Yes, they have pierced the hand-writing that was against us, and have nailed it to the tree; and by wounding the Just One, have penetrated through the head of the old serpent.

O let no one be deceived with respect to Him who was thus nailed to the cross! Those pierced hands bless more powerfully than while they moved freely and unfettered. They are the hands of a wonderful Architect who is building the frame of an eternal Church-yea, they are the hands of a Hero, which take from the strong man all his spoil. And believe me, there is no help or salvation save in these hands; and these bleeding feet tread more powerfully than when no fetters restrained their steps. Nothing springs or blooms in the world, except beneath the prints of these feet...

Thank God! in that scene of suffering the Sun of Grace rises over a sinful world, and the Lion of Judah ascends into the region of the spirits that have the power of the air in order, in a mysterious conflict, eternally to disarm them on our behalf."

-"The Suffering Savior," by F.W. Krummacher (gracias to Phil Greendyk for drawing my attention to Krummacher)

Heavy heart, why are you mourning?

Heavy heart, why are you mourning?
There is no provision for the longings of the flesh.
You are yearning for Egypt greens – this is not godly sorrow.
God cannot comfort you in your lust.
Rouse yourself! Repent of self-pity.
The wine of disobedience has thrown you into a stupor.
Wake up! Heavy heart, you are eager to justify
Your misery. You are blaming the Maker & His gifts
as if together they have tied the millstone around your joy.

That is foolishness.

God is not robbing you,
You are robbing God. Do you not realize that there is
No joy apart from Christ? You are an errant sheep
Chewing on thistles far from your shepherd’s pasture.
He is not to blame for the bitterness on your tongue.
Repent, you black-sheep heart!
Turn your feet towards His stable,
Bend your knees before His throne.
He, and he alone, is able to lift you…
Without Him you will be heavy for the rest of your life.

Truth & lies

When I lie, I deny Christ in me victory.
I denigrate the authority of the Spirit in my life.
I make an argument, not for the glory and kindness of God, but for craftiness and rebellion of Satan.

I degrade my sonship into willful slavery to evil, I compartmentalize my spiritual identity, rationalize my infidelity, like a promiscuous pragmatist in the bed of a prostitute.

Yet Jesus prayed (John 17?) for me, asking the Father to "sanctify" me in His Truth. I want to yield my whole soul, my whole mind, my entire ends-justifies-the-means heart to the deep plowing work of the Holy Spirit. Furrow me deep, o Lord, uproot and destroy these weedy lies that seek to throttle out the wheat of truth.

Discipline me, o my Father

"If we would put some slight stress on ourselves at the beginning, then afterwards we should be able to do all things with ease and joy. It is a hard thing to break through a habit, and a yet harder thing to go contrary to our own will. Yet, if thou overcome not slight and easy obstacles, how wilt thou overcome greater ones? Withstand thy will at the beginning, and unlearn an evil habit, lest it lead thee little by little into worse difficulties. Oh, if thou knewest what peace to thyself thy holy life should bring,...and what joy to others, methinketh thou wouldst be more zealous for spiritual profit."

-Thomas a Kempis

Loneliness comes over us sometimes as a sudden tide. It is one of the terms of our humanness, and, in a sense, therefore, incurable. Yet I have found peace in my loneliest times not only through acceptance of the situation, but through making it an offering to God, who can transfigure it into something for the good of others.

Elisabeth Elliot

How should I think about Islam?

Brother Daniel is a former Muslim, now a missionary in an undisclosed Islamic country. He conducts outreach efforts to Islamic leaders and pastoral training for new converts. My sister shared this sermon with me, after hearing Daniel speak to a missions conference in Kentucky (Fall 2009).

"From the time that there was no Time, there was God. He created man in his own image. All the offspring of Adam became sinners. Now it is God, who is sinless, took the form of a human being in order to restore us to his image. The Bible said that there is no mediator between God and man, only Christ Jesus. The Bible tells us that Christ was before all things. All that has been created is through Christ Jesus. All that you are doing is sharing the Light and bringing people to the Kingdom of God. It is not an assignment. It is not something you should even be worried about. It is telling people about Christ…he came to pay the penalty for sin. God is a just God and he must punish sin.

Islam does not know that Jesus Christ is God. That Jesus Christ came to save. Christ said, “The evil one comes only to kill and destroy…I came that you may have life.”
We have the words of Hope, but we are keeping them to ourselves!!!"

In His Words (a coversation with my boss)

Cate, your generation has been sold the bill of good about tolerance. "Tolerance is the highest ideal, the best way to live in peace, the American way." Is it? What about what Christ said, that we're all evil? Jesus Christ didn't preach a mantra of tolerance. But he did out talk about, and live, love. Our mistake is equating the two. Tolerance is NOT love. Love is sacrificial; love fights against anything that will harm the beloved; love is active, sometimes results in intervention, and comes personal cost.

Our country was founded on the very Christian idea that liberty is only possible when men are virtuous, as opposed to carnal, licentious, and indolent. Good and evil are realities, and virtue is virtue only when it moves from theory to practice. In my eyes, defending the freedoms enjoyed by American citizens, regardless of gender or race, is a virtue. And by "defending," I mean actively ensuring that no one abridges or abolishes these freedoms.

When Frank Gaffney investigates and reports that 80 percent of the mosques built in the U.S. are built with money from Saudi Arabia (Wahabbi Islam), as an American, I am concerned. Shari'a law is a revered cornerstone of their religion, and is incompatible with the rule of law here in the United States. When I ask for further information about what these mosques are teaching, or how they are being funded, I am not asking a bigoted question - I'm asking a national security question. I'm not adverse to the teachings of Muhammad because I hate Muslims, but rather because I love the liberty found in Christ and I want ALL men to experience it.

In Matthew 5:43, Jesus commanded us to emulate his example: "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor & hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

On 9-11, what I was feeling was exactly hate. Throughout the hours and days that followed, I was praying, "Lord, take this hate away from me! Give me clear thinking, let me step up and do what needs to be done to defend this country- but let me not hate!

Several years went by, and I came to work here at Smyrna Ministries. Day after day, I read incidents of persecution, Muslims killing Christians, and I thought, "Is this going to lead me back to hate?"

I wrestled with this, but then I realized that these Christians dying at the hands of their tormentors are free, and it is the Muslims who are enslaved in bondage.

When Jesus condemned sin and commanded love, he was only echoing what his Father in heaven had said centuries earlier: "Do not go about spreading slander among your people, and do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. Do not hate your brother in your heart...and do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself, for I AM the LORD" (Leviticus 19:16-18).

When it comes to love and tolerance, the world is competing for your loyalty. It wants you to sell out to their definition, and enter an ethical arena where everything is gray, and virtue can claim no superiority to vice. Hold fast to what Christ taught, and remember: Tolerance is over-rated. Love is not.