The skeptic will not be found
He is constantly moving in and out
At best he is trapped in a revolving door
He is appearances only
He appears to be going in
He appears to be going out
He will not accept anything
He is committed to nothing
Only to his non-committal
He cannot leave
He cannot stay
He cannot afford either
He is afraid to be hot
He will not be frozen
Lukewarm he is without taste
There is no good
There is no evil
Nothing real nothing unreal
Ultimately he must rebel against rebellion
Only to rebel against rebelling against rebellion
Endless this pointless feedback loop
And if he is not there
This time tomorrow
What of it?
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Love begins at HOME
Love Begins at Home
Jesus’ command in John 15:6 has to do with how I treat my spouse and
children. For single people, it involves how you treat roommates, fellow
Christians, the people closest to you.
There is no getting around it. If I am to become the man and minister God
has called me to be, then my wife must be able to say honestly before
heaven, hell and all the world: “My husband loves me with the love of
Christ. He makes mistakes, but he’s growing more patient and understanding
with me. He’s becoming more tender and caring. And he prays with me. He
isn’t a phony. He is what he preaches.”
But if this isn’t my wife’s testimony—if she has a secret pain in her
heart thinking, “My husband isn’t the man of God he pretends to be” – then
everything in my life is in vain. All my works—the preaching, the
accomplishments, the charitable giving, the many travels—amount to
nothing. I am a withering, useless branch that doesn’t bear the fruit of
Christ-likeness. Jesus will cause others to see the death in me, and I’ll
be worth little to his kingdom.
A middle-aged pastor and his wife came to me brokenhearted and weeping.
The minister told me through tears, “Brother Dave, I have sinned against
God and my wife. I’ve committed adultery.” He shook with godly sorrow as
he confessed his sin to me. Then his wife turned to me and said softly,
“I’ve forgiven him. His repentance is real to me and I’m confident the
Lord will restore us.”
I was privileged to witness the beginning of a beautiful healing. We can
never make up for our past failures. But when there is true repentance,
God promises to restore all that the cankerworm has destroyed.
I wish every couple who enjoys a Christ-centered marriage would rise up
and tell the truth: “It isn’t easy.” Marriage is a day-by-day effort, in
the same way the Christian life is. Like the way of the Cross, it means
giving up your rights daily. Of course, Satan knows your heart is set on
becoming more Christ-like in your home, so he’s constantly going to bring
about trials.
There is no other school as difficult and intense as the school of
marriage. And you never graduate. God makes it clear to us: Our life with
our loved ones is the pinnacle, the very summit, of all our testings. If
we get it wrong here, we’ll have it wrong everywhere else in our life.
David Wilker
Jesus’ command in John 15:6 has to do with how I treat my spouse and
children. For single people, it involves how you treat roommates, fellow
Christians, the people closest to you.
There is no getting around it. If I am to become the man and minister God
has called me to be, then my wife must be able to say honestly before
heaven, hell and all the world: “My husband loves me with the love of
Christ. He makes mistakes, but he’s growing more patient and understanding
with me. He’s becoming more tender and caring. And he prays with me. He
isn’t a phony. He is what he preaches.”
But if this isn’t my wife’s testimony—if she has a secret pain in her
heart thinking, “My husband isn’t the man of God he pretends to be” – then
everything in my life is in vain. All my works—the preaching, the
accomplishments, the charitable giving, the many travels—amount to
nothing. I am a withering, useless branch that doesn’t bear the fruit of
Christ-likeness. Jesus will cause others to see the death in me, and I’ll
be worth little to his kingdom.
A middle-aged pastor and his wife came to me brokenhearted and weeping.
The minister told me through tears, “Brother Dave, I have sinned against
God and my wife. I’ve committed adultery.” He shook with godly sorrow as
he confessed his sin to me. Then his wife turned to me and said softly,
“I’ve forgiven him. His repentance is real to me and I’m confident the
Lord will restore us.”
I was privileged to witness the beginning of a beautiful healing. We can
never make up for our past failures. But when there is true repentance,
God promises to restore all that the cankerworm has destroyed.
I wish every couple who enjoys a Christ-centered marriage would rise up
and tell the truth: “It isn’t easy.” Marriage is a day-by-day effort, in
the same way the Christian life is. Like the way of the Cross, it means
giving up your rights daily. Of course, Satan knows your heart is set on
becoming more Christ-like in your home, so he’s constantly going to bring
about trials.
There is no other school as difficult and intense as the school of
marriage. And you never graduate. God makes it clear to us: Our life with
our loved ones is the pinnacle, the very summit, of all our testings. If
we get it wrong here, we’ll have it wrong everywhere else in our life.
David Wilker
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The End of Evil
By Maxwell Taranhike
The real definition of evil is pointless pain
Deliberately inflicted without moral reason
The why of the perpetrator is without justification
For the victim it’s pain upon pain
Writhing agony upon writhing agony
Body, mind and soul
A pounding consciousness of a raw wound
O today, yesterday you stood
A bright hope for tomorrow
A promise of a turning tide
O that you had remained
In your mother’s womb
That earth had stalled its rotation
And the sun withheld its rays
No dawn to behold no day to label
Lucifer I have seen your face before
Maliciously you grin at anything that’s grim
Surely your end is coming
For the Lord says: Behold!
I am against you, O destroying mountain
Which destroys the whole earth
I will stretch my hand against you
And roll you down from the crags
And make you a burnt mountain
No stone shall be taken from you for a corner
No stone for a foundation
You shall be a perpetual waste
A judgement true a reward just is upon you
A burning lake fury of eternal flames
For evil fuels its own furnace
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