NothingAboutEverything?

2012-01-17T13:53:00.001-08:00

"We need, therefore, to ask whether sometimes--I don't say always--fundamentalism is a defense of a postbiblical interpretation rather than a willingness to go back to the text and be led by it." --Howard Marshal, Beyond the Bible p31-32

2011-11-26T16:03:00.001-08:00

"The gender-based culture of evangelicals and fundamentalists is produced and replicated by such 'subtle arrangements'...These often unspoken behavior rules and requirements are harder to document than the gendered nature of the material or ideological dimensions of culture, and they are particularly difficult for critics within the tradition to challenge because such criticism is made to seem petty." --Ingersoll "Evangelical Christian Women" p109

2011-10-28T20:50:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhZ2tvv3mto&feature=related

2011-09-04T16:43:00.001-07:00

“I can imagine what little kids must think—that I stole their daddy from them—I can uh—I deserve to be here.”

“Not everybody who’s caught up in the Aryan brotherhood is a bad person. Not everybody sees it for what it really is. I sure as hell didn’t. And it was all right around me—I just didn’t want to believe it—I didn’t want to see it.”

--Casper “National Geographic: Aryan Brotherhood

2011-05-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.termpaperscorner.com/blog/chicago-citation-style/

Ezekiel 18:20

2011-04-22T20:22:00.001-07:00

"The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself."

2011-03-05T12:40:00.002-08:00

"We live in a time where the 'joy of sex' is seen as the rightful pursuit of everyone. To be celibate, in fact, is almost to be suspect" --Out of the Shadows p33

2011-03-05T12:40:00.001-08:00

"In the addict's world, there is an ongoing tension between a person's normal self and the addicted self. A Jekyll/Hyde struggle emerges. The addictive system is so compelling that to stop would be like death. Yet, as the system continues, the person's values, priorities, and loved ones are attacked. Sometimes, only a major crisis can restore perspective" --Out of the Shadows p27

2011-02-27T11:02:00.001-08:00

"Mortal pride and earthly glory,
Sword and crown betray our trust;
Though with care and toil we build them,
Tower and temple fall to dust.
But God's power, hour by hour,
...is my temple and my tower."

--All my Hope on God is Founded

2011-02-13T14:10:00.001-08:00

"discipline is not to shame or humiliate; it's to teach."

--SuperNanny Season 7 Episode 10 12:30

2011-02-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

"Lord Jesus, your light shines within us. Let not my doubts nor my darkness speak to me. Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let my heart always welcome your love."

--song from church

2011-01-27T18:38:00.001-08:00

"By granting these men the spirit of prophecy He raises their minds above the world, and by withdrawing it again He safeguards their humility. When the spirit of prophecy is with them they learn what they are by God's mercy. When the spirit leaves them they discover what they are of themselves."
--Gregory The Great

2010-12-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

"These proceedings have been ironic, perplexing, unnerving, inspiring, and restorative.
how ironic that the guy I liked ended up liking my best friend
how perplexing his lack of communication, his cloak which inhibited my ability to read him
how unnerving that he never outwardly gave me a chance, that I questioned if he even was interested in being my friend
how inspiring that I learned that I'm good enough and that I don't need a guy - that this isn't the greatest desire of my heart
how restorative that I am nearer to the music than I've ever been before, that I have new confidence, which if used for the Lord's glory will brighten my unique reflection of Him"

- From a good friend's journal June 6th (yes we read the other's journals from time to time).

2010-11-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

"Natural science, in its widest sense, aims at setting forth a coherent system of knowledge of how Nature works. The scientist is concerned not with the 'how we know' but with the 'what we know' of the objective world. He assumes from the outset that it is 'real', that it exists apart from the individual knower, is con...sistently measurable, and is a realm of law" (The Wings Of Faith p44-45).

Susanna

2010-11-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

A story about John and Charles Wesley’s mother caught my eye while I was reading “Streams Of Living Water” by Richard Foster as part of an assignment for school. I want to know what you all think about what she did and why you think what you do.

“When Samuel was away in London on church matters for an extended period one time, his assistant did a poor job of nurturing the congregation. Consequently, Susanna decided to have Sunday evening services at home for the family, in order to bring some added spiritual influence. They gathered in the kitchen to sing psalms, pray, and read a short sermon selected from Mr. Wesley’s library shelves. Soon friends and neighbors asked to join in, and before anyone knew it, two hundred souls were crowded into Susanna’s home.

Mr. Inman, the church assistant, was insulted and scandalized, mainly because the Sunday night gatherings were outdrawing Sunday mornings. He contacted Samuel Wesley in London and protested these irregular worship services. Mr. Wesley, in turn, wrote his wife, asking her to desist. Her response was a masterful balance of deference and defiance.

Susanna began by responding to his three major objections to the meetings: these were ‘first, that it will look particular; secondly, my sex; and lastly, your being at present in a public station and character.’ She took up each objection with the most deference providing an extended and definitive answer. She then concluded, ‘If you do after all think it fit to dissolve this assembly, do not tell me any more that you desire me to do it, for that will not satisfy my conscience; but send me your positive command in such full and express terms as may absolve me from all guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity of doing good to souls, when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ’” (244).

The meetings continued unabated.

Life Together

2010-10-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

"The serious Christian, set down for the first time in Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God's grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves.

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period is a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God's sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.

God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dreams binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself."

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer Life Together p26-28

Our Problem of Evil

2010-10-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

"At the outset, let us remember that every world-view--not just Christianity's--must give an explanation for an answer for evil and suffering. Either evil categorically proves that God does not exist, as the atheist avows, or evil is 'not ultimately real evil,' as the pantheist claims, or evil is most coherently explained by the Christian view of God and His purpose for creation. In short, this is not a problem distinctive to Christianity. It will not do for the challenger just to raise the question. This problem of evil is one to which we all must offer an answer, regardless of the belief system to which we subscribe."
--Ravi Zacharias Jesus Among Other Gods p108

Metamorphosis

2010-10-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

"Alas, she was unable to break the silence of my melancholy. That I loved her--nothing is more certain--and thus my melancholy got plenty to feed upon, and it got, in addition, a dreadful perquisite. The fact that I became an author is due essentially to her, my melancholy and my money. Now by God's help I shall become myself, I believe now that Christ will help me to triumph over my melancholy, and then I will become a priest."
--Kierkegaard's Metamorphosis

Love Bears the Impress of Eternity

2010-10-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

"...In spite of the fact that this love is essentially based upon the sensuous, it is ennobled by reason of the consciousness of eternity which it embodies; for what distinguishes all love from lust is the fact that it bears an impress of eternity." ---Kierkegaard in Either/Or

Blessing

2010-10-05T20:03:00.001-07:00

Celebrant: All our problems

People: We send to the cross of Christ.

Celebrant: All our difficulties

People: We send to the cross of Christ.

Celebrant: All the devil’s works

People: We send to the cross of Christ.

Celebrant: All our hopes

People: We set on the risen Christ.

Celebrant: Christ the Son of Righteousness shine upon you and scatter the darkness from before your path; and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you always.

Blessing

2010-08-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

All our problems
We send to the cross of Christ.
All our difficulties
We send to the cross of Christ.
All the devil's works
We send to the cross of Christ.
All our hopes
We set on the risen Christ.
Christ the Son of Righteousness shine upon you and scatter the darkness from before your path; and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you always.

There Is A Fountain (Part 4)

2010-08-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more.
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.

Healer Of Our Every Ill

2010-05-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Healer of our every ill,
Light of each tomorrow,
Give us peace beyond our fear
And hope beyond our sorrow.

You who know our fears and sadness,
Grace us with your peace and gladness.
Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts.

In the pain and joy beholding,
How your grace is still unfolding.
Give us all your vision, God of love.

Give us strength to love each other,
Every sister, every brother.
Spirit of all kindness, be our guide.

You who know each thought and feeling,
Teach us all your way of healing.
Spirit of compassion, fill each heart.

2010-05-09T20:12:00.001-07:00

http://www.selflessdefense.com/

Groaning for Redemption Part 1

2010-04-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

8. O God, regard my bitter cry,
I groan to be redeem'd from my sin;
To Thee I lift my weeping eye,
Open Thine arms and take me in;
To Thee my labouring soul I bow;
Require it, O require it now.

9.I know it is not now renew'd
I am not fit Thy face to see,
But trust the virtue of Thy blood
In my last hour shall work on me
Some miracle of grace unknown,
Without a miracle undone.

--Wesley

Hymn on Mark 2:19-20

2010-04-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

3.No abstinence severe
Can be, while Christ is here:
High on eagles' wings we soar,
Safe in heavenly places dwell;
War and strife we reckon o'er,
Suffering is impossible.

4.But sooner or late we moan
Our joyous Bridegroom gone,
Miss that sensible delight,
Extasy of infant grace,
Lose the Beatific Sight,
See no more his heavenly face.

5. His face unless he hide,
We never can be tried:
Wherefore not in wrath but love
Jesus partially withdraws,
Leaves his own, our faith to prove,
Leaves us bleeding on his cross.

--Wesley

2010-04-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 18:2-4 (New International Version)
2 "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: " 'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?
3 "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
---
Jeremiah 17:10 (New International Version)
10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
---
Jeremiah 31:27-30 (New International Version)
27 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares the LORD. 29 "In those days people will no longer say,'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'
30 Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.
---

Collective criminal responsibility vs the individual being responsible for his or her own sin.

2010-03-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

"If I have already been forgiven and therefore connected to a God whose Spirit pours life into me, then you pose no threat to my existence. You can reject me, hurt me, and make my life pretty miserable, but you cannot destroy me. Therefore I don't need to be so afraid of you that my fear controls how I treat you.

I don't need to keep up my guard. I can actually accept you as God for Christ's sake has already accepted me. When you offend me, I can nourish the spirit of forgiveness within me because it's there. I may have to look hard for it, but it's there. I've been forgiven, and I've been given the urge to forgive, the same urge that led to my being forgiven. I can pour into you the life that has been poured into me."

--Connecting by Larry Crabb (pages 46-47)

2010-03-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

"When two people connect, when their beings intersect as closely as two bodies during intercourse, something is poured out of one and into the other that has the power to heal the soul of its deepest wounds and restore it to health. The one who receives experiences the joy of being healed. The one who gives knows the even greater joy of being used to heal. Something good is in the heart of each of God's children that is more powerful than everything bad. It's there, waiting to be released, to work its magic. But it rarely happens."

--Connecting by Larry Crabb pxi

My Faith Looks Up To Thee

2010-02-28T16:41:00.001-08:00

My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away,
O let me from this day be wholly Thine!
May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee,
Pure warm, and changeless be, a living fire!
While life’s dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread, be Thou my Guide;
Bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside.
When ends life’s transient dream,
When death’s cold sullen stream over me roll;
Blest Savior, then in love, fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above, a ransomed soul!

Don't Look Back

2010-02-21T15:00:00.001-08:00

Every morning as I look into the mirror
Yesterday's mistakes are so painfully clear
I could let them take me under, be a source of misery
Or I could understand the power of the blood that's shed for me

Often I'm reminded that there's nothing we can do
That would take away the sacrifice for me and you
So when you feel the guilt of the enemy's attack
Just know you've been forgiven and don't look back

Don't look back - Yesterday is over, today is a brand new day
Don't look back - It's not the answer, no it's not the way

You can't go forward when you keep looking back
How can you think about the future
When you're haunted by the past?
God don't want you to live like that
Put your hand to the plow and don't look back

I know the straight and narrow is the path that I should see
Yet I'm often tempted by the way it used to be
Seems like only good times keep flashing through my brain
But then I stop and I remember the cost, all the pain

Don't look back - Those old temptations were never good for you
Don't look back - There's nothing there that can help you get through

Why do we dig up the old man
When there's so much ahead?
Why can't we do what Jesus said
And let the dead bury the dead?

--?

Holy God, We Praise Thy Name

2010-02-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

Ho-ly God, we praise Thy Name;
Lord of all, we bow be-fore Thee!
All on earth Thy scep-ter claim,
All in heav-en a-bove a-dore Thee;
In-fin-ite Thy vast do-main,
Ev-er-last-ing is Thy reign.

Hark! the loud ce-les-tial hymn
An-gel choirs a-bove are rais-ing,
Cher-u-bim and ser-a-phim,
In un-ceas-ing chor-us prais-ing;
Fill the heav-ens with sweet ac-cord:
Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly, Lord.

Lo! the a-pos-tol-ic train
Join the sa-cred Name to hal-low;
Pro-phets swell the loud re-frain,
And the white-robed mar-tyrs fol-low;
And from morn to set of sun,
Through the Church the song goes on.

Ho-ly Fa-ther, Ho-ly Son,
Ho-ly Spir-it, Three we name Thee;
While in es-sence on-ly One,
Un-di-vid-ed God we claim Thee;
And a-dor-ing bend the knee,
While we own the mys-ter-y.

--The Covenant Hymnal: A Worship #19

2010-01-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

"That is why he and his kind are employed," Nathan said bitterly. "To protect their overlords from such unpleasant tasks. Now the landlord can wring from us his moneys and care not for the misery he evokes, for indeed it would be difficult for any man to see another starve and his wife and children as well; or to enjoy the profits born of such travail."

--Nectar In A Sieve p72

2010-01-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

"He seemed very wide awake. I stretched myself out beside him, close to him in the darkness, and as we touched he turned abruptly towards me. Words died away, the listening air was very still, the black night waited. In the straining darkness I felt his body moving with desire, his hands on me were trembling, and I felt my senses opening like a flower to his urgency. I closed my eyes and waited, waited in the darkness while my being filled with a wild ecstatic fluttering, waited for him to come to me."

--Nector In A Sieve p57

Psalm 73

2009-12-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.
11 They say, "How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?"
12 This is what the wicked are like— always carefree, they increase in wealth.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
20 As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.
21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

You Won't Relent (Seal)

2009-11-29T13:10:00.000-08:00

You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours
You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart
As a seal upon my arm
For there is love that is as strong as death
Jealousy, demanding as the grave
Many waters cannot quench this love

You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours
You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart
As a seal upon my arm
For there is love that is as strong as death
Jealousy, demanding as the grave
Many waters cannot quench this love
Waters cannot quench this love

You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours
Waters cannot quench this love
You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours

Come be the fire inside of me
Come be the flame upon my heart
Come be the fire inside of me
Until You and I are one

--Misty Edwards

John Calvin

2009-09-28T17:43:00.001-07:00

"And yet it is not so terrified by the awareness of his judgment as to wish to withdraw, even if some way of escape were open. But it embraces him no less as punisher of the wicked than a benefactor of the pious. For the pious mind realizes that the punishment of the impious and wicked and the reward of life eternal for the righteous equally pertain to God's glory. Besides, this mind restrains itself from sinning, not out of dread of punishment alone; but, because it loves and reveres God as Father, it worships and adores him as Lord. Even if there were no hell, it would still shudder at offending him alone."

--John Calvin, Institutes, Book 1 ch. 2

Magnus Liber Organi

2009-09-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

Natus Est Rex

A king is born

of the Virgin Mary,

salvation of the world,

the way of eternal life,

whom the undefiled and pious mother

brought forth.

O what joy goes forth

into the church

by reason of this birth,

the presence of Christ

and his grace

and grace.

He causes

heavenly joy.

They are destined

for the land.

The entrance is laid open.

Faithflessmess,

pride,

power,
the enemy is broken.

The entry
is restored.
The king, born
in a manner becoming to man,
gives entry
and, lost
and abandoned
to generation,
man is set free.

The world praises
a new king
with song
of new melodies.
He has brought us out
from the pool of darkness
and weight
of lingering woes.

Adam, whom the enemy
weakened and deceived,
had lost the kingdom
which God had given him,
and his grace
and grace.

He causes...

Now the words
of the prophets are fulfilled,
for unto us
a child God
is born,
as was testified by the holy scriptures,
for in his death
is the salvation of our souls....

First Adam
brought us to death.
Then he
returned us to life.
He has blessed the flesh,
taken on in a wondrous fashion,
he who is seated at the right hand
of the Father.

Because he has restored admittance
lost by the taste
It was neither a debt
nor our merit,
but only grace
and grace.

He causes....

A Lammas Ladymass

2009-09-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

O quam glorifica

O how thou glitterest with glorious radiance,
virgin Mary, royal offspring of the tribe of David,
sitting exalted above
all the celestial beings of the empyrean.

Thou, chaste mother with virginal honor,
hast with thy holy womb prepared
the breast's palace for the lord of angels;
hence Christ is born, God incarnate,

whom the whole worshipping world adores,
before whom now every knee is rightly bent,
and from whom we beg, when though comest,
the casting out of darkness and the joys of light.

Grant this, father of all light,
through your own son by the Holy Spirit
who lives with you in bright heaven,
reigning and ruling forevermore.

--Translation: Ernest H. Sanders (v.1-3) and Susan Hellauer (v.4)

Agnus dei

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world,
grant us peace.

Glory to God in the Highest

2009-09-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

"I uttered: Lord, have mercy on me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. Lord, I have fled to Thee, teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God, For Thou art the fountain of life. In Thy light we shall see light."
--Vespers: Glory to God in the Highest

Blessed Art Thou O Lord

2009-09-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

The Resurrection Evlogitaria is chanted at every Sunday Matins.

Blessed art thou, O Lord,
teach me thy statutes.
The assembly of angels was amazed
to see thee numbered among the dead,
Thou who hadst destroyed the might of death,
O Saviour,
and who hast raised up Adam with Thyself,
and who hast freed all men from Hades.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
teach me thy statutes.
Why do ye mingle myrrh with tears of compassion,
O ye women disciples?
The radiant angel in the grave addressed the myrrh-bearing women:
Behold the grave and exult, f
or the Saviour hath arisen from the sepulcher.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
teach me thy statutes.
At early morn the myrrh-bearers hastened to thy sepulcher with lamentation;
but an angel came to them and said:
The time for sorrow is ended;
weep no more. And tell the Apostles of the Resurrection.
Blessed art thou, O Lord,
teach me thy statutes.
The myrrh-bearing women came with myrrh unto thy tomb, O Saviour,
and they heard an angel saying unto them:
Why do ye count the Living among the dead?
For, as God, he is risen from the sepulcher.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
We worship the Father and his Son and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity,
one in Essence, and we cry out with the seraphim:
Holy, Holy, Holy are Thou, O Lord!
Now and ever and unto the ages of ages.
Amen.
By giving birth to the Giver of Life, O Virgin,
thou didst rescue Adam from sin,
and thou didst grant Eve joy instead of sorrow;
for the God and Man who was incarnate of thee guided back to life
him that had fallen away therefrom.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia,
glory to thee, O God!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia,
glory to thee, O God!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia,
glory to thee, O God!

Quant Revient (Mo21)

2009-08-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

When the return of leaf and flower
signal the arrival of the summer season,
God, that is when I think of Love
who has ever been
courteous and gentle with me.
Her solace pleases me greatly
for her good will
relieves my pain.
Many honors and good things
come to me from being in her service.

--Anonymous 4 Loves Illusion (Montpellier Codex 13 cent)

Decay

2009-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Decay

Staring into the sun,

Burdened and taken,

I was thrown away,

I lost everything and I came to a fall,

Blown away and thrown aside:

We used to love/ We want to feel/ We need to find

So far away we scream/ We crawl and reach/ We used to see the sun

Tears running I feel,

Back against the wall I feel the steel,

Nail in my hand from a broken man,

I wonder if we ever can,

Break free and find the real:

We used to love/ We want to feel/ We need to find

So far away we scream/ We crawl and reach/ We used to see the sun

Said it out loud,

Looked at the distance in the glass,

I saw what I was as I loaded a bullet,

My former life passed as the trigger pulled,

Ashes blown away/ thrown

We need to love/ We need to feel/ We need to find

So far away we scream/ We crawl and reach/ We need to see the sun

Silent decay spins,

Following crows as they rise,

Never again will I stray,

Once again I will fall

--Nick Ahern 2005-2006

The Shack

2009-08-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

Breathe in me...deep
That I might breathe...and live
And hold me close that I might sleep
Soft held by all you give

Come kiss me wind and take my breath
Till you and I are one
And we will dance among the tombs
Until all death is gone

And no one knows that we exist
Wrapped in each other's arms
Except the One who blew the breath
That hides me safe from harm

Come kiss me wind and take my breath
Till you and I are one
And we will dance among the tombs
Until all death is gone

---The Shack p233

Brave New World

2009-07-14T16:22:00.000-07:00

"'Oh, God, God, God...' the Savage kept repeating to himself. In the chaos of grief and remorse that filled his mind it was the one articulate word. 'God!' he whispered it aloud. 'God...'"
-p207

"But my own experience has given me the conviction that, quite apart from any such terrors or imaginings, the religious sentiment tends to develope as we grow older; to develope because, as the passions grow calm, as the fancy and sensibilities are less excited and less excitable, our reason becomes less troubled in its working, less obscured by the images, desires and distractions, in which it used to be absorbed; whereupon God emerges as from behind a cloud; our soul feels, sees, turns towards the source of light; turns naturally and inevitably; for now that all that gave to the world of sensations its life and charms has begun to leak away from us, now that phenomenal existence is no more bolstered up by impressions from within or from without, we feel the need to lean on something that abides, some thing that will never play us false- a reality, an absolute and everlasting truth. Yes, we inevitably turn to God; for this religious sentiment is of its nature so pure, so delightful to the soul that experiences it, that it makes up to us for all our other losses."
-p233 book quotes from another source

"'Are you sure?' asked the Savage. 'Are you quite sure that the Edmund in that pneumatic chair hasn't been just as heavily punished as the Edmund who's wounded and bleeding to death? The gods are just. Haven't they used his pleasant vices as an instrument to degrade him?' "
-p236

--Aldous Huxley

2009-06-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

look up later: I have felt the hand of God" by Craig Courtney

Idyll of Praise

2009-06-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is my father’s world,

And to my listening ears all nature sings,

And round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father’s world:

I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees,

Of skies and seas His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world.

This is my Father’s world,

The birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lilly white,

Declare their maker’s praise.

This is my Father’s world:

He shines in all that’s fair;

In rustling grass I hear Him pass,

I hear Him everywhere.

This is my Father’s world.

This is my Father’s world,

O let me not forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the Ruler yet. This is my Father’s world:

The battle is not done;

Jesus who died shall be satisfied,

And earth and heaven be one.

This is my Father’s world.

--Craig Courtney

Hosea 7

2009-06-09T22:39:00.000-07:00

¹ whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit,
thieves break into houses,
bandits rob in the streets;

² but they do not realize
that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them;
they are always before me.

³ "They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.

⁴ They are all adulterers,
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

⁵ On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,
and he joins hands with the mockers.

⁶ Their hearts are like an oven;
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

⁷ All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
and none of them calls on me.

⁸ "Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over.

⁹ Foreigners sap his strength,
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.

¹⁰ Israel's arrogance testifies against him,
but despite all this
he does not return to the LORD his God
or search for him.

¹¹ "Ephraim is like a dove,
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
now turning to Assyria.

¹² When they go, I will throw my net over them;
I will pull them down like birds of the air.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.

¹³ Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak lies against me.

¹⁴ They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail upon their beds.
They gather together for grain and new wine
but turn away from me.

¹⁵ I trained them and strengthened them,
but they plot evil against me.

¹⁶ They do not turn to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.

Hosea 6

2009-06-09T22:36:00.000-07:00

¹ "Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.

² After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.

³ Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."

⁴ "What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.

⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth;
my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.

⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷ Like Adam, they have broken the covenant—
they were unfaithful to me there.

Job 42:1-6

2009-05-18T02:36:00.001-07:00

Then Job replied to the LORD :

"I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.

You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

"You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.'

My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.

Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."

2009-05-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.skypoint.com/members/waltzmn/PaulMSS.HTML

:)

2009-05-11T01:28:00.000-07:00

"Suffering is not always punitive or even corrective. It can be instructive. It is a discipline and a warning. This is a common Wisdom theme (Pr. 3:11; Heb. 12:12f). This is affirmed by Eliphaz (Jb. 5:17) and especially by Elihu. Suffering is morally therapeutic and prophylactic.

Such answers to any man's question, 'Why am I suffering?' are confined to the individual. They are valuable and valid, because they take the human person seriously in his moral connections with God."
--Francis I. Anderson Job p69

Gregory Parsons

2009-04-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

"Job's words in 27:5-6, where he insists that he would cling to integrity and maintain righteousness till death despite the allegations of his friends, bears ironic resemblance to the Lord's analysis of Job in 2:3. The irony that results from the use of the word 'integrity' causes the reader to wonder of the Lord would still describe Job in the same way after Job's long and blasphemous attacks on God. The usage of this literary device causes the reader to desire (and anticipate) the voice of God from the 'whirlwind.'"
--Gregory Parsons Literary Features of the Book of Job p217

T.S. Eliot

2009-04-26T20:54:00.001-07:00

"To believe in the supernatural is not simply to believe that after living a successful, material, and fairly virtuous life here one will continue to exist in the best-possible substitute for this world, or that after living a starved and stunted life here one will be compensated with all the good things one has gone without: it is to believe that the supernatural is the greatest reality here and now."
--T.S. Eliot

Evanescence

2009-04-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

"My Immortal"

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

[Chorus:]
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

[Chorus]

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

[Chorus]

2009-04-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

^"12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" ²²On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way."

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

2009-04-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." --James 1:27

"Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?" --James 2:5

"Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a newmoon or Sabbath day- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God."--Col 2:16-19

Charles Wesley

2009-04-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Jesus, thine all victorious love shed in my heart abroad;
Then shall my feet no longer rove, rooted and fixed in God.
Refining fire, go through my heart, illuminate my soul;
Scatter thy life through every part, and sanctify the whole.
No longer then my heart shall mourn, while, purified by grace,
I only for his glory burn, and always see his face.

-Charles Wesley, untitled hymn text

Lamentations 3:19-38

2009-03-26T02:47:00.000-07:00

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.

²⁰ I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.

²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.

²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.

³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.

³¹ For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.

³² Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.

³³ For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men.

³⁴ To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,

³⁵ to deny a man his rights
before the Most High,

³⁶ to deprive a man of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?

³⁷ Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?

³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?

Romans 5:1-5

2009-03-26T02:43:00.000-07:00

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

2009-03-26T02:16:00.000-07:00

Journal entry 10-12-06

"For most of my life I have held that it is worse to feel something wonderful and have it snatched away than to have never experienced it. It was torture when my mom would hug me and tell me she loved me and then the next day yell and hurt me. I wanted to be hardened. To not enjoy the first part so that the second wouldn't hurt so badly. With Matt I felt something wonderful and thought there could be something more later. I see it all coming to nothing now. Disappointment.

If I hadn't hoped I would not feel so bad. Still, thinking about it, would I really want to live in a world that was completely cold? Back to my mother. If she had never hugged me and said she loved me- If all there was was fear- there may have been no disappointment and no hunger for the good but without those things it may have been much tougher for me to see that good existed. Maybe it is the disappointment that shows me how much I need the One who will not disappoint. Maybe I could have more readily accepted the dark. Maybe- I think all I can do is hope. But this hope must be placed in God. All else is a gift from Him or a gifte taken away by Him. I can give up and not want to experience the good or I can accept it knowing that it can be taken. I can know that the Ultimate Good will always be."

2009-03-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

"...we Christians can wait expectantly and with fortitude for the 'hope' to manifest itself precisely because that for which we hope is 'unseen' and thereby part of the eternal and sure purposes of God. The attitude of 'patience endurance' is one that is frequently required of Christians undergoing trials and as they await the climax of God's salvation for them. The word suggests the combination of 'bearing up' under intense pressure. This is the virtue required by Christians as we eagerly await 'the hope of the glory of God.'"
--Douglas Moo The Epistle to the Romans p522 commenting on Rom 18:25

Romans 8:18-25

2009-03-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Let Your Love be Strong

2009-03-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

In this world of news, I've found nothing new
I've found nothing pure
Maybe I'm just idealistic to assume that truth
Could be fact and form
That love could be a verb
Maybe I'm just a little misinformed

As the dead moon rises, and the freeways sigh
Let the trains watch over the tides and the mist
Spinning circles in our skies tonight
Let the trucks roll in from Los Angeles
Maybe our stars are unanimously tired

Let your love be strong, and I don't care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your eyes
All of my world hanging on your love

Let the wars begin, let my strength wear thin
Let my fingers crack, let my world fall apart
Train the monkeys on my back to fight
Let it start tonight
When my world explodes, when my stars touch the ground
Falling down like broken satellites

All of my world resting on your love

-Let your Love be strong
Switchfoot.

A Beautiful Mind

2009-03-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

"The existence of someone with schizophrenia has been compared to that of the person living in a glass prison pounding on the walls, unable to be heard, yet very visible."
-A Beautiful Mind: A Man All Alone in a Strange World p323

When God Weeps

2009-03-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

"I'm across the ocean in England when the fax arrives at my hotel, relaying the story. John's wife, along with a nurse, found him in the early morning with ants still in his hair, mouth, and eyes. His skin was badly bitten and burned. Pray for him, the fax conveys, we've never seen him so depressed. I'm speaking at a conference, conveying the plight of disabled people. I'm speaking of God's mercy and his protection over the weak and the vulnerable. I sit by the receptionist's desk and want to read the fax a second time but can't. My stomach's sick. John is a Christian. His God can see in the dark."
-p24

"Thirty seconds after the 1995 terrorist bomb exploded in Oklahoma City, people lay writhing everywhere in pools of blood...Near you lies a women- face, torso, and arms shredded with glass shrapnel. An artery has obviously been hit, but you can't tell exactly where from a few away. The horror of the sight may make you feel faint. You may feel confused and panicked. You may feel afraid that another bomb will go off. You may feel like cursing or praying. You may feel a thousand things- but if you don't stop the feeling and start thinking about how to stop her flow of blood and attend to her shock, this women may die.

But shouldn't people have feelings after such a blast? Oh, yes. Intense suffering calls for deep emotions. In the aftermath, Oklahoma and the nation should weep and weep. We should weep. God weeps. 'To everything there is a season...a time to weep.' But there is also a time to think. Neither can replace the other."
-p66

Joni Eareckson Tada and Steven Estes

2009-03-15T00:58:00.000-07:00

Enemy
Familiar friend
My beginning and my end
Knowing truth
Whispering lies
And it hurts again...

What I fear
What I try
The words I say and what I hide
All the pain
I want it to end
But I want it again

And it finds me
The fight inside is coursing through my veins
And it's raging
The fight inside is breaking me again

It's still the same
Pursuing pain
Isn't worth the light I've gained
We both know
How this will end
But I do it again

And it finds me
The fight inside is coursing through my veins
And it's raging
The fight inside is hurting me again
And it finds me
The war within me pulls me under
And without you
The fight inside is breaking me again

It's nothing
(It's everything)
It's nothing
(It's everything)
It's nothing
(It's everything)
It's nothing
It's everything

And it finds me
The fight inside is coursing through my veins
And it's raging
The fight inside is hurting me again
And it finds me
The war within me pulls me under
And without you
The fight inside is breaking me again

It's breaking me
It's breaking me

I'm falling apart
I'm falling apart

--RED Fight Inside

Job 16:6-17:16

2009-03-15T00:44:00.000-07:00

⁶ "Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;

and if I refrain, it does not go away.

⁷ Surely, O God, you have worn me out;
you have devastated my entire household.

⁸ You have bound me—and it has become a witness;
my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.

⁹ God assails me and tears me in his anger
and gnashes his teeth at me;
my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.

¹⁰ Men open their mouths to jeer at me;
they strike my cheek in scorn
and unite together against me.

¹¹ God has turned me over to evil men
and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.

¹² All was well with me, but he shattered me;
he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;

¹³ his archers surround me.
Without pity, he pierces my kidneys
and spills my gall on the ground.

¹⁴ Again and again he bursts upon me;
he rushes at me like a warrior.

¹⁵ "I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
and buried my brow in the dust.

¹⁶ My face is red with weeping,
deep shadows ring my eyes;

¹⁷ yet my hands have been free of violence
and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸ "O earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry never be laid to rest!

¹⁹ Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.

²⁰ My intercessor is my friend ^a]">[a]
as my eyes pour out tears to God;

²¹ on behalf of a man he pleads with God
as a man pleads for his friend.

²² "Only a few years will pass
before I go on the journey of no return.

¹ My spirit is broken,
my days are cut short,
the grave awaits me.

² Surely mockers surround me;
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

³ "Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.
Who else will put up security for me?

⁴ You have closed their minds to understanding;
therefore you will not let them triumph.

⁵ If a man denounces his friends for reward,
the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶ "God has made me a byword to everyone,
a man in whose face people spit.

⁷ My eyes have grown dim with grief;
my whole frame is but a shadow.

⁸ Upright men are appalled at this;
the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.

⁹ Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,
and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

¹⁰ "But come on, all of you, try again!
I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹ My days have passed, my plans are shattered,
and so are the desires of my heart.

¹² These men turn night into day;
in the face of darkness they say, 'Light is near.'

¹³ If the only home I hope for is the grave, ^b]">[b]
if I spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴ if I say to corruption, 'You are my father,'
and to the worm, 'My mother' or 'My sister,'

¹⁵ where then is my hope?
Who can see any hope for me?

¹⁶ Will it go down to the gates of death ^c]">[c] ?
Will we descend together into the dust?"

Hymn of Praise (Josiah Condor)

2009-03-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

Thou art the everlasting Word,
The Father's only Son;
God manifestly seen and heard,
And Heaven's beloved One.
Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou
That every knee to Thee should bow.

In Thee most perfectly expressed
The Father's glories shine;
Of the full Deity possessed,
Eternally divine:
Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou
That every knee to Thee should bow.

True Image of the Infinite,
Whose essence is concealed;
Brightness of uncreated light;
The heart of God revealed:
Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou
That every knee to Thee should bow.

But the high mysteries of Thy name
And angel's grasp transcend;
The Father only- glorious claim!-
The Son can comprehend:
Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou
That every knee to Thee should bow.

Throughout the universe of bliss,
The center Thou, and sun;
The eternal theme of praise is this,
To Heaven's beloved One:
Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou
That every knee to Thee should bow.

--Josiah Condor (1789-1855)

Job 7

2009-02-16T00:17:00.000-08:00

Job 7

¹ "Does not man have hard service on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired man?

² Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,
or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages,

³ so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.

⁴ When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?'
The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.

⁵ My body is clothed with worms and scabs,
my skin is broken and festering.

⁶ "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
and they come to an end without hope.

⁷ Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
my eyes will never see happiness again.

⁸ The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.

⁹ As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so he who goes down to the grave ^a]">[a] does not return.

¹⁰ He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more.

¹¹ "Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹² Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
that you put me under guard?

¹³ When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,

¹⁴ even then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵ so that I prefer strangling and death,
rather than this body of mine.

¹⁶ I despise my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone; my days have no meaning.

¹⁷ "What is man that you make so much of him,
that you give him so much attention,

¹⁸ that you examine him every morning
and test him every moment?

¹⁹ Will you never look away from me,
or let me alone even for an instant?

²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
O watcher of men?
Why have you made me your target?
Have I become a burden to you? ^b]">[b]

²¹ Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
you will search for me, but I will be no more."

"Job's thoughts are as violent as the sieve of testing in which God has permitted the Satan to shake him. He appeals to God to make his agony endurable by making it meaningful. Otherwise let Him show pity by bringing Job to death. Job's pain has the authenticity of all who have been injured in their wrestling with God, even though they limp for the rest of their life (Gn. 32:31). If he seems defiant, it is the daring of faith. All that Job has known about God he still believes. But God's inexplicable ways have his mind perplexed to the breaking-point. Job is in the right; but he does not know that God is watching with silent compassion and admiration until the test is fully done and it is time to state His approval publicly (Jb 42:8)."
--Job by Francis I. Anderson p.139

I Then Shall Live

2009-02-08T21:34:00.000-08:00

I then shall live as one who's been forgiven.
I'll walk with joy to know my debts are paid.
I know my name is clear before my Father;
I am His child and I am not afraid.
So, greatly pardoned, I'll forgive my brother;
The law of love I gladly will obey.

I then shall live as one who's learned compassion.
I've been so loved, that I'll risk loving too.
I know how fear builds walls instead of bridges;
I'll dare to see another's point of view.
And when relationships demand commitment,
Then I'll be there to care and follow through.

Your Kingdom come around and through and in me;
Your power and glory, let them shine through me.
Your Hallowed Name, O may I bear with honor,
And may Your living Kingdom come in me.
The Bread of Life, O may I share with honor,
And may You feed a hungry world through me.

Amen, Amen, Amen

--Gloria Gaither

Essentials of Pedriatric Nursing

2009-02-08T00:12:00.001-08:00

"Enforced dependency is a chief characteristic of the sick role and accounts for the numerous instances of toddler negativism. For example, rigid schedules, different clothes, altered care giving activities, unfamiliar surroundings, separation from parents, and medical procedures usurp toddlers' control over their world. Although most toddlers initially react negatively and aggressively to such dependency, prolonged loss of autonomy may result in passive withdrawal from interpersonal relationships and regression in all areas of development."
-p662

"Adolescents' struggle for independence, self-assertion, and liberation centers on the quest for personal identity. Anything that interferes with this poses a threat to their sense of identity and results in a loss of control."
-662

"Because separation is such an important issue surrounding hospitalization for young children, children who are active and strong willed tend to fare better when hospitalized than youngsters who are passive."
-663

"Feelings of loss of control result from separation, physical restriction, changed routines, enforced dependency, and magical thinking."
-670

"The dependent role of the hospitalized patient imposes tremendous feelings of loss on older children. Principle interventions should focus on respect for individuality and the opportunity for decision making. Although these sound simple, their efficacy lies with nurses who are flexible and tolerant. It is also important for the nurse to empower the patient while not feeling threatened by a sense of lessened control.

Enabling children's control involves helping them maintain independence and promoting the concept of self-care. Self-care refers to the practice of activities that individuals personally initiate and perform on their own behalf in maintaining life, health, and well-being (Orem, 2001). ...Whenever possible, these activities are encouraged in the hospital. Other approaches include jointly planning care, time structuring, wearing street cloths, making choices in food selections and bedtime, continuing school activities, and rooming with an appropriate age-mate."
-271

--Wong's Essentials of Pediatric Nursing 8th edition by Marilyn J. Hockenberry and David Wilson

Job

2009-01-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

"Why is light given to him who suffers,
And life to the bitter of the soul,
Who long for death, but there is none,
And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
Who rejoice greatly,
And exult when they find the grave?
Why is the light given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?
For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And my cries pour out like water.
For what I fear comes upon me,
And what I dread befalls me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes."
--Job 3:20-26

"What is a man that You magnify him,
And that You are concerned about him,
That You examine him every morning
And try him every moment?
Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?
Why then do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me, but I
will not be."
--Job 7:17-21

The Destitute

2009-01-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

"What is reported of men, whether it be true or false, may play as large a part in their lives, and above all in their destiny, as the things they do." -p19

"Mlle Baptistine was tall, pale, thin and gentle, a perfect expression of all that is implied by the word 'respectable': for it seems that a women must become a mother before she can be termed 'venerable'. She had never been pretty. Her life, which had been wholly occupied with good works, had endowed her with a kind of pallor and luminosity, and as she grew older she had acquired what may be called the beauty of goodness. What had been skinniness in her youth had become, as she matured, a quality of transparency through which her saintly nature could be seen to shine. She was a spirit more than she was a virgin. Her being seemed composed of shadow, with too little substance for it to posses sex. It was a shred of matter harbouring light, with large eyes that were always cast down; a pretext for a soul to linger on earth." -20

"Can human nature be ever wholly and radically transformed? Can the man whom God made good be made wicked by man? Can the soul be reshaped in its entirety by destiny and made evil because destiny is evil? Can the heart become misshapen and afflicted with ugly, incurable deformities under disproportionate misfortune, like a spinal column bent beneath a too low roof? Is there not in every human soul, and was there not in the soul of Jean Valjean, an essential spark, an element of the divine, indestructible in this world and immortal in the next, which goodness can preserve, nourish, and fan into glorious flame, and which evil can never quite extinguish?" -98

With the hazy perception of an unformed nature and an overborne intelligence, he was confusedly unaware of something monstrous that oppressed him. Did he seek to look upward beyond the pallid half-light in which he crouched, it was to see, with mingled terror and rage, an endless structure rising above him, a dreadful piling-up of things, laws, prejudices, men and facts, whose shape he could not discern and whose mass appalled him, and which was nothing else than the huge pyramid that we call civilization. Here and there in the formless, swarming heap, near to him or at an inaccessible height, some detail would be thrown into sharp relief- the prison- warder with his truncheon, the gendarme with his sabre; above these the mitred bishop, and at the very top, like a sun, the Emperpor radiantly crowned. Far from dispelling his own darkness, those distant splendors seemed only to intensify it. Life came and went above his head- laws, prejudices, facts, men and things- in the intricate and mysterious pattern God stamps on civilization, bearing down and crushing him with a placid cruelty and remorseless indifference. Men fallen into the nethermost pit of adversity, lost in that limbo where the eyes do not follow, those outcasts of the law feel upon their necks the whole weight of society, so formidable to the outsider, so terrifying to the underdog. -101
--Les Miserables

2008-12-26T23:18:00.000-08:00

"Thinking and understanding are regarded as akin to a form of perceiving; for in the one as well as the other the soul discriminates and is cognizant of something which is."
--De Anima, III, 3 427a 21.

The Wonderful Cross

2008-12-08T16:25:00.001-08:00

D                 G        D
When I survey the wondrous cross
D            G         D     A
On which the Prince of glory died,
D                 G         D
My richest gain I count but loss,
D           A               D
And pour contempt on all my pride.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down:
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

      G         D             G         D
Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross
       G                D               A
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

      G         D             G         D
Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross
       G              D
All who gather here by grace draw near
   A
And bless Your name

Were the whole realm of Nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all!

O Holy Night

2008-11-26T23:08:00.000-08:00

O Holy Night - Version 1:

Oh holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angels' voices!

Oh night divine, Oh night when Christ was born;

Oh night divine, Oh night, Oh night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here come the wise men from Orient land.

The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!

Behold your King, Behold your King.

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

O Holy Night - Version 2:

O! Holy night! The stars, their gleams prolonging,

Watch o'er the Eve of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error, longing

For His appearance, then the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope; the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was Born;

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts we stand by the Babe adored.

O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,

And come now, Shepherds, from your flocks unboard.

The Son of God lay thus w'thin lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our Lord.

He knows our need, our weakness never lasting,

Behold your King! By Him, let Earth accord!

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Long live His truth, and may it last forever,

For in His name all discordant noise shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

--composed by Adolphe Adame in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877)

The Cry Of Man That Only God Can Respond To

2008-11-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

Wake Me Up Inside

How can you see into my eyes
Like open doors?
Lading you down into my core,
Where I've become so numb.

Without a soul,
My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold,
Until you find it there and lead it back
Home.

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside.
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside.
(Save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark.
(Wake me up)
Bid my blood to run.
(I can’t wake up)
Before I come undone.
(Save me)
Save me from the nothing I've become.

Now that I know what I'm without,
You can't just leave me.
Breathe into me and make me real.
Bring me to life.

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside.
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside.
(Save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark.
(Wake me up)
Bid my blood to run.
(I can’t wake up)
Before I come undone.
(Save me)
Save me from the nothing I've become.

Bring me to life.
(I've been living a lie.
There's nothing inside)
Bring me to life.

Frozen inside without your touch,
Without your love, darling.
Only you are the life among the dead.

(All of this sight,
I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark
but you were there in front of me)
I've been sleeping a 1000 years it seems.
I've got to open my eyes to everything.
(Without a thought
Without a voice
Without a soul
Don't let me die here.
There must be something more).
Bring me to life.

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside.
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside.
(Save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark.
(Wake me up)
Bid my blood to run.
(I can’t wake up)
Before I come undone.
(Save me)
Save me from the nothing I've become.

Bring me to life.
(I've been living a lie. There's nothing inside)
Bring me to life

--Evanescence

Exodus 15:1b-18

2008-11-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

I will sing to the Lord, for He

is highly exalted;

The horse and its rider He has

hurled into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and

song,

And He has become my

salvation;

This is my God, and I will

praise Him;

My father's God, and I will

extol Him.

The Lord is a warrior;

The Lord is His name.

Pharoh's chariots and his

army He has cast into the

sea;

And the choicest of his officers

are drowned in the Red Sea.

The deeps cover them;

They went down into the

depths like a stone.

Your right hand, O Lord, is

majestic in power,

Your right hand, O Lord,

shatters the enemy.

And in the greatness of Your

excellence You overthrow

those who rise up against

You;

You send forth Your burning

anger, and it consumes them

as chaff.

At the blast of Your nostrils the

waters were piled up,

The flowing waters stood up

like a heap;

The deeps were congealed in

the heart of the sea.

The enemy said, "I will pursue,

I will overtake, I will divide

the spoil;

My desire shall be gratified

against them;

I will draw out my sword, my

hand will destroy them."

You blew with Your wind, the

sea covered them;

They sank like lead in the

mighty waters.

Who is like You among the

gods, O Lord?

Who is like You, majestic in

holiness,

Awesome in praises, working

wonders?

You stretched out Your right

hand,

The earth swallowed them.

In Your lovingkindness You

have led the people whom

You have redeemed;

In Your strength You have

guided them to Your holy

habitation.

The peoples have heard, they

tremble;

Anguish has gripped the

inhabitants of Philistia.

Then the chiefs of Edom were

dismayed;

The leaders of Moab, rembling

grips them;

All the inhabitants of Canaan

have melted away.

Terror and dread fall upon

them;

By the greatness of Your arm

they are motionless as stone;

Until Your people pass over,

O Lord,

Until the people pass over

whom You have purchased.

You will bring them and plant

them in the mountain of Your

inheritance,

The place, O Lord, which You

have made for Your dwelling,

The sanctuary, O Lord which

Your hands have established.

The Lord shall reign forever

and ever.

The Swindler's Story of Grace

2008-11-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

The Swindler’s Story of Grace
By Curtis Jones

Love wasn’t easily accepted by the religious elite,
Cause it’s not so neat, it’s kinda jagged,
It dwells with our shredded hearts frayed and ragged,
Pursues us with love songs when we’re unattractive,
True Love loves the burnt out addicts,
The gangsta rap fanatics, the divorced and repackaged,
The drunks and the helpless, the lesbians and faggots,
The foolish actress with bi-sexual habits,
Consumers of explicit lyrics and pornographics,
Lives that look like hair tangled in a winding axis,
And people scarred by life like motorcycle crashes,
God loves abortionist and terrorist, the depressed and the embarrassed,
The ugly like the fairest, the well rounded like the squarest,
He writes on hearts like tablets, draws all men unto his magnet+
The tortoise and the rabbit, the simplistic and elaborate,
Death stings like yellow jackets, ‘til religion fades like plastic,
Eternal love for all’s fantastic, even though we couldn’t grasp it,
Now hearts get impacted like tennis balls to racquets,
When preachers kick excessive smoke like nicotine patches,
He said I came to love the lost, follow me employ these tactics,
If they don’t love like this, you’re pickin fruits, Ouch, from a cactus,
That’s why John the Baptist said these trees were made for axes,
They want a truth beneath the shell, and the scriptures easily crack this,
The swindlers story of grace, chapter nine, will easily back this,
Christ came to hang His hat with those cheaters, who swindle taxes,
Now the holy and the healthy said His love was malpractice,
But the Great Physician said I came to love the wrecked and ravished,
And those who you say are way below the average,
I’ll take their sins upon me with the lashes and the gashes,
With undeserving love, I will do it in my passion,
But if you keep trying to burn them with your little pack of matches,
I make the final call and I can give you what you’ve practiced,
If your life has nothing tragic, then keep moving on like traffic,
Make peace or attack it, every tongue will say it’s matchless,
You build a heaven for 3 people cause you’re having mental lapses,
But they were not in need of love, and so they called love blasphemous,
The perfect ones said, Stay away from them maggots,
Build higher walls, accept no trash, and no baggage,
They can all go to Hell, while we’re living here lavish,
But there was one outside the walls, and He’s nicknamed savage,
Knocking on the doors, and He’s knocking in His madness, saying,
Let me dine with you, and eat with you, as I do with these prostitutes,
I give the undeserving more than you, cause they receive good news as actual,
You only hear the message as factual, for the purpose of exclusion,
It was never meant for that, the proud devised that mass confusion,
For God so loved the whole world, He underwent the bruisin,
Still the arrogant rage, and plot a vain illusion,
He who sits in the heavens laughs, and finds it all amusing,
Those of your exclusion have been found in my inclusion,
You flay my flesh with the holy hatred that you’re using,
Give it up please, you’re no better than the least of these,
First and foremost they’re My children, My children,
Confidence in religious effort, is no foundation for building,
Trust the forgiveness of sins, because it’s covering you like sealant,
But don’t hoard it to yourself, because it’s for the nations healing,
So sinners flocked to Love, cause they perceived in Him the real thing,
Unconditional Love was attractive and appealing,
He accepts the wobbling and the tilting,
Mixed feelings and the guilty,
Those who think their prayers bounce back off the steel ceiling,
No, no, no, I hear you son, I hear you daughter,
Life without you is my death, and therefore I was slaughtered,
I was already on the line, before you ever thought of callin,
Prepared the best solution, before you knew there was a problem,
I loved you more than life, and that’s why I was martyred,
They were fighting me, although I never even fought ‘em,
Some imagine me a tyrant yelling, “7 times hotter,”
Some will tell ya that I came, just to drop you in the lava,
Nothing upon nothing upon nothing is stretched farther,
The truth is that I came here to show ya that I love ya,
Death wants to steal your life, but I’ll serve him up proper,
My death will eat his death, like a little peach cobbler,
He’s snappin at my heals, like a little red lobster,
But I’ll crush his head, and make it just a little bit softer,
The insults of them insulting you fell upon the Father,
The truth is that I came here to show ya, that I love ya,
I’m closer to you than your very own saliva,
The word is in your mouth, yes it’s already inside ya,
I knew your everything before you ever wore a diaper,
And you spiritually poor have a Kingdom with my Papa,
Love wins.

The Unilateral Promise

2008-11-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

The Unilateral Promise
By Curtis Jones

The promise is unilateral, this salvation is radical,
Resting in His sacrifice is an everlasting sabbatical,

Majoring in the Majestic, emphasizing what’s emphatical,
So what’s His true anatomy? Is He God or humanity,
Cause He yields the power of YAHWEH, but what befell Him was catastrophe,
At one holy moment, yet He cleanses sin sporadically,
Resurrected supernaturally, He took that one catastrophe, and ruined death disastrously,
Oh! Mystically a mystery, incalculable statistically,
The most awful event in history, was paradoxically a masterpiece,
Don’t speak as if your bastardly, behold Him and you have the key,
Now hold to him nostalgically, if only in a memory,
And what a day that’ll be, in the ultimate reality,
Caught up in infinity, undisturbed by the enemy,
Unfettered by the sin in me, finally tranquility has swallowed up the tragedy,
And I can’t even imagine me, on that day I meet His majesty,
No systematic theology could express that moment adequately,
Will we experience the static or be moved ecstatically?
Caught up in this destiny that He gave up to invest in me?
And the worst part of God is better than the best in me,
So I’m placing all of my belief upon the Lamb of Calvary,

The promise is unilateral, this salvation is radical,
Resting in His sacrifice is an everlasting sabbatical,

To taste this land of ecstasy, I must suffer with Him next to me,
Passing through the misery, incessantly He delivers me,
From my own depravity and it’s like the weight of gravity,
Let Christ be true infallibly, but every man in fallacy,
Search it for yourself in the fourth verse of Romans 3,
The Nazarene of Galilee wants more than your salary,
He wants your heart and your life and the whole of its totality,
Every single molecule and every little calorie,
This is the cost of dowry, He paid from the trinity,
He bought us with his blood to believe in His Divinity,
To receive all His affinities, loving-kindness and serenities,
And His faithfulness is the centerpiece to feed us at His wedding feast,
We’ll eat up all His delicacies He’ll eat all our inadequacies,

The promise is unilateral, this salvation is radical,
Resting in His sacrifice is an everlasting sabbatical,

Our sins are so detestable and the proud man is not intellectual,
He’s seen God’s works and still refused and this is unacceptable,
Theories of evolution place faith in man corruptible,
But although some may not believe, God is still untouchable,
The theocratical evangelical fills his heart with the God of Israel,
And He feeds on Him like cereal though his God is immaterial,
And he knows why your skeptical, but his faith is diametrical,
Opposed to what’s perplexing you, he triumphs every obstacle, by the dialectical,
And he’s an open receptacle for the power on high to electrocute,
The old man who’s dead and time is through, to let the Christ Man reign as new,
Death does nothing to sway his views its void and empty and lacking truth,
Called freakish and sometimes fanatical, bizarre or even fantastical,
You may say it’s magical, but all that’s just dramatical,
Nothing here’s illogical and everything is factual,

The promise is unilateral, this salvation is radical,
Resting in His sacrifice is an everlasting sabbatical,

By faith it’s automatical,
Just receive Christ into you’re heart

Song of Hope (Heaven Come Down)

2008-11-05T19:58:00.000-08:00

All things bright and beautiful You are
All things wise and wonderful You are
In my darkest night, You brighten up the skies
A song will rise

I will sing a song of hope
Sing along
God of heaven come down
Heaven come down
Just to know that You are near is enough
God of heaven come down, heaven come down

All things new
I can start again
Creator, God
Calling me Your friend
Sing praise, my soul
To the Maker of the skies
A song will rise

I will sing a song of hope
Sing along
God of heaven come down
Heaven come down
Just to know You and be loved is enough
God of heaven come down, heaven come down
--Robbie Seay Band

Sex differences

2008-10-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

Nadeau says that the sex-specific differences in the brain are located both in the primitive regions, and in the neocortex--the higher brain regions. The neocortex contains 70 percent of the neurons in the central nervous system, and it is divided into two hemispheres joined by a 200-million fiber network called the corpus callosum.

The left hemisphere controls language analysis and expression and body movements while the right hemisphere is responsible for spatial relationships, facial expressions, emotional stimuli, and vocal intonations.

Men and women process information differently because of differences in a portion of the brain called the splenium, which is much larger in women than in men, and has more brain-wave activity. (9) Studies have shown that problemsolving tasks in female brains are handled by both hemispheres, while the male brain only uses one hemisphere.

Differences in the ways men and women communicate is also a function of sex-specific areas of the brain. Women seem to have an enhanced awareness of "emotionally relevant details, visual cues, verbal nuances, and hidden meanings," writes Nadeau. Similarly, while male infants are more interested in objects than in people, female infants respond more readily to the human voice than do male infants.

---

Professor Steven Goldberg, Chairman of the Department of Sociology at City College of New York, has written a book with the provocative title, Why Men Rule--A Theory of Male Dominance. In the book, he debunks much of the feminist mythology surrounding the issue of differences between males and females.

Goldberg maintains that although males and females are different in their genetic and hormonally-driven behavior, this does not mean that one sex is superior or inferior to another. Each gender has different strengths and weaknesses. However, he believes the neuro-endocrinological evidence is clear: The high level of testosterone in males drives them toward dominance in the world, while the lack of high levels of this hormone in women creates a natural, biological push in the direction of less dominant and more nurturing roles in society.

Goldberg writes:

"There is not, nor has there ever been, any society that even remotely failed to associate authority and leadership in suprafamilial areas with the male. There are no borderline cases." (3)

Feminist theorists maintain that socialization is a primary reason why males have dominated the world's cultures, but Goldberg counters:

"...if socialization alone explains why societies are patriarchal, there should be any number of societies in which leadership and authority are associated with women, and one should not have to invoke examples of non-patriarchal societies that exist only in myth and literature." (4)

http://narth.com/docs/york.html

The Unbearable Crisis

2008-10-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

To say that men and women are the "same" is to deny physical reality. Child psychologist Dr. James Dobson relates a humorous story about men and women in his best-seller, Straight Talk to Men and Their Wives. Several years ago a drug company conducted an experiment with all of the women in a small fishing village in South America. The women were all given an experimental birth control pill. They were given the same pill on the same date, and the prescription was terminated after three weeks to permit menstruation.

"That meant, of course," he says, "that every adult female in the community was experiencing premenstrual tension at the same time. The men couldn't take it. They all headed for their boats each month and remained at sea until the crisis had passed at home. They knew, even if some people didn't, that females are different from males . . . especially every twenty-eight days." (5)

http://narth.com/docs/york.html

Humility

2008-10-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

"A brother asked an old man, 'What is the work of one who lives as an exile?' The old man said, 'I used to know a brother who was living in exile and then happened to go to church. By chance there was an agape and the brother sat down to eat with the other brethren, and some amongst them said, 'Now who has invited this man?' So they said to him, 'Get up and go away', and he got up and went away. Some of the others were grieved at this and they went to call him back. Afterwards, they asked him, "What was in your heart when you were driven away and then brought back again?' He said, 'I was quite sure in my heart that I was like a dog. When it is driven away, it goes, and when it is called, it comes.'"
--"The Wisdom of The Desert Fathers" p.48-49

The Psalmodity of Presence

2008-10-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

"As the kingdom of David crumbled from within and eventually fell to Babylonian imperialism, the temple psalmodists continued to praise Yahweh as the lord of Zion, the soverign of nature, and the judge of history.
...
They sang the hidden God. Others were tortured by an obsession for God. They sang the hauntingness of presence. A few reached a plateau of confident serenity. They sang the sufficient grace.
...
their complaint amounted in effect to a confession of faith. To be aware of divine hiddenness is to remember a presence and to yearn for its return. The presence of an absence denies its negativity."
-Samual L. Terrien On the Psalmody of Presence p198

Everlasting

2008-10-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Chorus 2x
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out

- Hillsong United

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbGgA2lIDjc

"What I've Done"

2008-10-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef-N7aGtgck

In this farewell
There's no blood
There's no alibi
Cause I've drawn regret
From the truth
Of a thousand lies

So let mercy come
And wash away

What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done

Put to rest
What you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands
Of uncertainty

So let mercy come
And wash away

What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done

For what I've done
I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I'm forgiving what I've done

I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done

What I've done
Forgiving what I've done

Imagine Me

2008-09-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Imagine me...
No longer trapped on the block
Standin' on the corner with my nine and my glock
Taking the road less traveled which for sure is harder to climb
But the view's so much clearer along the way to the top.

Imagine me...
Movin' from street Thug to Man of Valor
Not goin' toe to toe with knuckleheads over little things that don't matter
Like who stepped on my shoe and who's been lookin' too hard at my grill... I just chill
No longer chasin' paper that don't satisfy
Just like a new ride, crib, and nights of sex.

Imagine me...
No longer gettin' wet in a sea of sin
But drownin' in a ragin' river of livin' water- Man...imagine that.
Picture me swellin' with purpose off tha charts!
And walking in purpose? That brings flava to my heart
'Cause purpose ain't confined to the four blocks I've known my whole life.
Imagine me overcomin' internal strife, which is greater than any external foe or casualty
Imagine me free- and not just gettin' my GED
But finishin' college- even graduate school
Storing up tools to travel outside my comfort zone and see the world that truly lies before me...
Don't ignore me, but dream of things that can be.
Imagine me no longer needing to cop a plea, nor desiring to run the streets
Even though it's been the home that nurtured me.

Imagine me waling in the light of destiny
And the light breaks through the darkness of broken lives.
Breaking through all the stereotypes that say "we ain't nothin but problems!"
Who can solve them?

Imagine you and me
No longer wasting our lives away in defeat but making a difference where we are...
Yeah. Imagine me giving in to that heavenly star which signified the birth of my Savior
Jesus Christ: Imagine that price he paid- his life-giving sacrifice
Because of my thuggin' and druggin', disrespect and late night rendezvous
He had to choose- save himself or save me...
Talk about taking the rap for someone elses' crime-
Now I'm free- salvation received all because Christ loved me and I believed
This is serious.
God's dream for me became my imagination and now I can...
Imagine me.

--Allen Paul Weaver III

My Eyes Have Seen Holy

2008-09-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

Am I unfit for You
Remember me, the one who turned from You
I come in rags tattered by the Fall
And all the earth, a witness to my crime

Mercy, weep over me
Let Your tears wash me clean
Majesty, be merciful with me
For my eyes have seen Holy

Hear my prayer at night
Let the morning find me alive
For I am tired and weakened by the Fall
Let all the earth bear witness to my cry

Let the Amen sound from Heaven as You lift my soul
Let the Amen sound from Heaven as You lift my soul
Let the Angels sound from Heaven, Holy is the Lord

--Bebo Norman and Jason Ingram

Paul on Living and Walking by the Spirit

2008-08-20T01:44:00.000-07:00

"For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."

...

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ."

--Galatians 5:13-18; 5:25-6:2

Pieces lyrics

2008-08-05T21:43:00.001-07:00

I'm here again
A thousand miles away from you
A broken mess, just scattered pieces of who I am
I tried so hard
Thought I could do this on my own
I've lost so much along the way

Then I'll see your face
I know I'm finally yours
I find everything I thought I lost before
You call my name
I come to you in pieces
So you can make me whole

I've come undone
But you make sense of who I am
Like puzzle pieces in your eye

Then I'll see your face
I know I'm finally yours
I find everything I thought I lost before
You call my name
I come to you in pieces
So you can make me whole!

I tried so hard! So hard!
I tried so hard!

Then I'll see your face
I know I'm finally yours
I find everything I thought I lost before
You call my name
I come to you in pieces
So you can make me whole
So you can make me whole

--RED

Breathe Into Me lyrics

2008-08-05T21:41:00.001-07:00

And this is how it feels when I ignore the words you spoke to me
And this is where I lose myself when I keep running away from you
And this is who I am when, when I don't know myself anymore
And this is what I choose when it's all left up to me

Breathe your life into me
I can feel you
I'm falling, falling faster
Breathe your life into me
I still need you
I'm falling, falling
Breathe into me
Breathe into me

And this is how it looks when I am standing on the edge
And this is how I break apart when I finally hit the ground
And this is how it hurts when I pretend I don't feel any pain
And this is how I disappear when I throw myself away

Breathe your life into me
I can feel you
I'm falling, falling faster
Breathe your life into me
I still need you
I'm falling, falling
Breathe into me
Breathe into me
Breathe into me
Breathe into me

Breathe your life into me
I can feel you
I'm falling, falling faster
Breathe your life into me
I still need you
I'm falling, falling
Breathe into me

Breathe your life into me!
I'm falling, falling faster
Breathe your life into me!
falling, falling, falling
Breathe into me
Breathe into me
Breathe into me
Breathe into me

--Red

Against Hermogenes

2008-07-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

"Thus with matter excluded because the cause for it[s introduction] has been excluded, it remains that God undoubtedly made all things out of nothing.We shall see whether He also made evil things, when it will be clear what things are evil and whether those things are evil which for the present you regard as such. For it is more worthy of God that He produced these things of His own will by producing them too out of nothing than that He did so on the initiative of another, supposing that He produced them out of matter. Liberty, not necessity, is appropriate to God. I would rather have it that He wanted to create evil things out of Himself than that He was unable to prevent their creation."
--"Ancient Christian Writers: The Treatise Against Hermogenes" Tertullian p48

Ignatius (Epistle to the Romans)

2008-07-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

I write to the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless ye hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body; so that when I have fallen asleep [in death], I may be no trouble to any one. Then shall I truly be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments22 I may be found a sacrifice [to God]. I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commandments unto you. They were apostles; I am but a condemned man: they were free,23 while I am, even until now, a servant. But when I suffer, I shall be the freedman of Jesus, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being a prisoner, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain.

From Syria even unto Rome I fight with beasts,24 both by land and sea, both by night and day, being bound to ten leopards, I mean a band of soldiers, who, even when they receive benefits,25 show themselves all the worse. But I am the more instructed by their injuries [to act as a disciple of Christ]; “yet am I not thereby justified.” (1Co_4:4) May I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me; and I pray they may be found eager to rush upon me, which also I will entice to devour me speedily, and not deal with me as with some, whom, out of fear, they have not touched. But if they be unwilling to assail me, I will compel them to do so. Pardon me [in this]: I know what is for my benefit. Now I begin to be a disciple. And let no one, of things visible or invisible, envy26 me that I should attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings,27 breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful28 torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ.

--Ignatius (Epistle to the Romans ch. IV-V)

The Powers of Gourd, Supervacuity, Cucumber and Melon!

2008-07-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

"There exists a certain royal Pre-principle, pre-unintelligible, pre-insubstantial and pre-prerotund, which I call Gourd. With this Gourd there coexists a Power which I call Supervacuity. This Gourd and this Supervacuity, being one, emitted without emitting a Fruit visible in all its parts, edible and sweet, which language calls Cucumber. With this Cucumber there is a Power of the same substance, which I call Melon. These Powers, Gourd and Supervacuity and Cucumber and Melon, emitted the whole multitude of Valentinus' delirious Melons."
--a parody by Irenaeus against the Valentinians ^_^

It Is Well With My Soul

2008-05-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

--Horatio G. Spafford, 1873

Baxter- Poetical Fragments

2008-05-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

When in thy Word I read Love's Mysteries;
There I would sweetly feed my greedy eyes.
Each Sacrament should be an Eucharist: (twist.
There Heart with Heart, & Love with Love should
My friends and I would in our daily walk
Of love's Delights and Entertainment talk:
My working Love should others Love excite:
In Love I'd be a Burning Shining Light.
Love through the Lantern of my flesh should shine:
Who heard me speak, should hear that I am Thine:
Remembering that in Love I must be made
Equal to Angels; I would learn their Trade:
Yea I would reach up to a higher shelf;
And as my Copy, look to Christ himself:

Love's word I'd do with my
diligence, (Mar. 3.20.21)
Though men should think I were
beside my sense. (2 Cor. 5.13)

My daily Love should rise before the Sun,
And it in speed and constancy out run:
Love as my life should fill up all my daise;
Desire should be my Pulse; my Breath thy Praise.
And I would winde up all the strings as high,
As Blessed Paul was in his Ecstasy.
Heav'nly Love should all my words indite,
And be the soul and sense of all I write:
My heart of Love's Delights should sweetly think,
I'd write with flaming fire instead of ink:

And yet thy holy Day should be my Best,
In it my thirsty Soul should taste of Rest;
My daily food should increase to a Feast.
O my Dear God! how precious is thy Love?
O could I mount thus to the Flames above?

These are Love's pantings after thee, my God!
Though, with my Soul, imprisoned in a clod!
My Soul and Love shall shortly be set free;
And then my Soul, my Love shall feast on Thee.
If thou wouldft grant the very thing I crave,
And give me leave to chuse what I would have;
Should it be lusts, or Sports, or Fleshly pleasure?
Should it be Lordly Rule, or Earthly Treasure?
No; I could gladly leave this Dirt to Swine,
And let the World be theirs, if Thou be mine!
I would not thirst to taste of their Delight.
If lively Faith might see the blessed Sight!
I would not be ambitious of a Throne!
I could have full content in God alone.
For mens Esteem and Praise I would not care:
All other Wit and Knowledge I could spare:
To Know and Love my God should be my choice:
Give me but This, and how shall I rejoice?
Under my hand, Lord, This is it I choose:
O give me this, whatever else I lose!
If there no spark of Love in this Desire?
When a poor Soul doth unto Thee aspire?
To Know and Love thee is my thirst and strive:
Nothing more makes me weary of my life,

Than that I feel no more the heav'nly Fire,
But look and reach, and yet can reach no higher.
Here lyes my pain! This is my daily sore:
I hate my Heart for loving God no more.
Do I not Love Thee, when I Love to Love Thee?
And when I set up nothing else above Thee?
Next GOD himself, who is my END & REST,
Love which stands next Thee, I esteem my Best,
And Loving God shall be my endless Feast.
O my Dear God! how precious is thy Love?
These are thy Earnests of the Life above.

--19-21

A Garden of Spiritual Flowers

2008-04-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

- William Perkins (image #60)

A Prayer to be Said Before the Public Exercise Begins

O Most mighty and eternal God, before whose presence together with the rest of this congregation, I vile and sinful wretch, at this time do present my self to hear Thy holy Word, and to offer up the sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving unto Thee: bless (I beseech Thee) this our meeting, sanctify and prepare m heart, that it may be apt and fit for this exercise which now we have in hand: inflame my heart with zeal, and teach me how to open mine ears, that I may understand that which shall at this time out of Thy holy Word be taught unto me. Take from me all wandering and by-thoughts; and grant that now and ever, I may bear Thy Word effectually, and pray unto Thee sincerely, through Jesus Christ.

The Puritans on PRIDE

2008-03-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

"One of our most heinous and palable sins is PRIDE. This is a sin that hath too much interest in the best of us, but which is more hateful and inexcusable in us than in other men. Yet is it so prevelant in some of us, that it inditeth our discourses, it chooseth our company, it formeth our countenances, it putteth the accent and emphasis upon our words. ...But, alas! how frequently doth it go with us to our study, and there sit with us and do our work! ...God commandeth is to be as plain as we can, that we may inform the ignorant; and as convincing and serious as we are able, that we may melt and change their hardended hearts. p.137 The Reformed Pastor

...In short, the sum of all is this, it maketh men, both in studying and preaching , to seek themelves, and deny God, when they should seek God's glory, and deny themselves. When they should inquire, what shall I say, and how shall I say it, to please God best, and do most good? it makes them ask, What shall I say, and how shall I deliver it, to be thought a learned able preacher, and to be applauded by all that hear me? p.138

..and while we cry down papal infallibility, too many of us would be popes ourselves, and have all stand to our determination, as if we were infallible. p.140

The matter is come to pass, through our pride, that if an error or fallacious argument do fall under the patronage of a reverend name, (which is nothing rare,) we must either allow it the victory, and give away the truth, or else become injurious to that name that doth patronize it; for though you meddle not with their persons, yet do they put themselves under all the strokes which you give their arguments; and feel them as sensibly as if you had spoken of themselves, because they think it will follow in the eyes of others, that weak arguing is a sign of a weak man. If, therefore, you consider it your duty to shame their errors and false reasonings, by discovering their nakedness, they take it as if you shamed their persons; and so their names must be a garrison or fortress to their mistakes, and their reverence must defend all their sayings from attack. p.141

NothingAboutEverything?

"We need, therefore, to ask whether sometimes--I don't say always--fundamentalism is a defense of a postbiblical interpretation rather than a willingness to go back to the text and be led by it." --Howard Marshal, Beyond the Bible p31-32

Ezekiel 18:20

"The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself."

"We live in a time where the 'joy of sex' is seen as the rightful pursuit of everyone. To be celibate, in fact, is almost to be suspect" --Out of the Shadows p33

"Mortal pride and earthly glory,Sword and crown betray our trust;Though with care and toil we build them,Tower and temple fall to dust.But God's power, hour by hour,...is my temple and my tower."

--All my Hope on God is Founded

"discipline is not to shame or humiliate; it's to teach."

--SuperNanny Season 7 Episode 10 12:30

"Lord Jesus, your light shines within us. Let not my doubts nor my darkness speak to me. Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let my heart always welcome your love."

Susanna

Life Together

Our Problem of Evil

Metamorphosis

Love Bears the Impress of Eternity

"...In spite of the fact that this love is essentially based upon the sensuous, it is ennobled by reason of the consciousness of eternity which it embodies; for what distinguishes all love from lust is the fact that it bears an impress of eternity." ---Kierkegaard in Either/Or

Blessing

Blessing

There Is A Fountain (Part 4)

Healer Of Our Every Ill

Groaning for Redemption Part 1

Hymn on Mark 2:19-20

My Faith Looks Up To Thee

Don't Look Back

Holy God, We Praise Thy Name

Psalm 73

You Won't Relent (Seal)

John Calvin

Magnus Liber Organi

A Lammas Ladymass

Glory to God in the Highest

Blessed Art Thou O Lord

Quant Revient (Mo21)

Decay

The Shack

Brave New World

Idyll of Praise

Hosea 7

Hosea 6

Job 42:1-6

Gregory Parsons

T.S. Eliot

Evanescence

Charles Wesley

Lamentations 3:19-38

Romans 5:1-5

Romans 8:18-25

Let Your Love be Strong

A Beautiful Mind

When God Weeps

Job 16:6-17:16

6 "Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;

Hymn of Praise (Josiah Condor)

Job 7

Job 7

I Then Shall Live

Essentials of Pedriatric Nursing

Job

The Destitute

The Wonderful Cross

O Holy Night

The Cry Of Man That Only God Can Respond To

Exodus 15:1b-18

The Swindler's Story of Grace

The Unilateral Promise

Song of Hope (Heaven Come Down)

Sex differences

The Unbearable Crisis

Humility

The Psalmodity of Presence

Everlasting

"What I've Done"

Imagine Me

My Eyes Have Seen Holy

Paul on Living and Walking by the Spirit

Pieces lyrics

Breathe Into Me lyrics

Against Hermogenes

Ignatius (Epistle to the Romans)

The Powers of Gourd, Supervacuity, Cucumber and Melon!

"Mortal pride and earthly glory,
Sword and crown betray our trust;
Though with care and toil we build them,
Tower and temple fall to dust.
But God's power, hour by hour,
...is my temple and my tower."

⁶ "Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;