Head-dibs

whoa-o...i've been banging my head against the wall whoa-o...for so long it seems i knocked it down, yeah it got knocked down whoa-o...and the heating bill went through the roof whoa-o...and the wall i knocked down was the proof that my landlord needed to kick me out i got evicted now i'm living on the street my spirits lifted...oh wait, that wasn't me too many turns have turned out to be wrong this time i learned that, i knew it all along when car crashes occur then i'll be what you were when i see what i should when i see that it's good (that it's good) to experience the bittersweet to taste defeat then brush my teeth experience the bittersweet to taste defeat then brush my teeth cause i struggle with forward motion i struggle with forward motion we all struggle with forward motion cause forward motion is harder than it sounds well everytime i gain some ground i gotta turn myself around again it's harder than it sounds well everytime i gain some ground i g...

"The African theologian who has experienced the agonies of having a burning appetite but nothing to eat will surely theologize differently on the on the theme of food from the American theologian who knows the discomfort of having a plate full of steak but no appetite." (Mbiti, John. "Theological Impotence." Third World Theologies . Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1976.) I look for evening snacks because I am hungry after their third meal of the day. I couldn't decide what shirt to wear this morning. I have at least five Bibles within reach (close to 20 if you count the ones on my computer). I can sit in one place and be tempted to indulge just about every physical sense imaginable--all on the same computer screen I read Bibles on. I have an estimate of 1500 books in my personal library (e-texts included). I know of people who will feed their guests first, followed by father and the wife and children get whatever's left--and they think it rude if the guest does n...

Galatians 6:1-5 What kind of person does it take to bear burdens? That depends on the size and/or kind of burden. Well then, what would it take for a large burden? Describe the person who could move, say, a refrigerator/freezer by himself. Well, he could take a dolly or hand truck and . . . By himself, I mean. With no tools. What kind of person could lift that burden? A rather large person, I would think. With broad shoulders, hands like bricks, arms like tree trunks, I suppose. He must have a broad chest and thick legs. His arms must be able to wrap around the burden, or at least his hands must get a good grip on it. What about a little girl? Could she bear the burden? Of course not! She is too small, too frail! A little girl is too delicate and could be injured! Consider this: what if the refrigerator was full? What would the burly man have to do to move his burden so as not to damage the contents? Lift carefully and slowly, I imagine. He would need to squat down, grasp ti...

In his book "Abide in Christ", Andrew Murray writes: . . . [T]here are a thousand questions that at times come up, and the attempt to answer them becomes a weariness and a burden. It is because you have forgotten you are in Christ, whom God has made to be your wisdom. Let it be your first care to abide in Him in undivided fervent devotion of heart; when the heart and the life are right, rooted in Christ, knowledge will come in such measure as Christ's own wisdom sees meet. And without such abiding in Christ the knowledge does not really profit, but is most often hurtful. The soul satisfies itself with thoughts which are but the forms and image of truth, without receiving the truth itself in its power. God's way is ever first to give us . . . the thing itself, the life and the power and then the knowledge. Man seeks knowledge first, and often, alas, never gets beyond it! God gives us Christ, and in hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. O let us be content to p...

[my apologies for multiple copies to those who receive this by e-mail] I found a copy of Anne Emmerich's "Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ" online (see sidebar). [by the way: "dol" means "pain"] I am reading it because it is from this work that Mel Gibson derived much of the imagery used in "THE MOVIE." This is the primary extra-biblical work Mel is chided for consulting for various reasons. Most people (Protestants, mainly) don't realize how much of the book influenced the movie and they walk away singing the praises (?) of the movie and try to put down the Catholicsm of it--they have no idea what they are saying. . . Before I am accused of committing cinema-olotry or am declared a Gibson-ite, or becoming Catholic (many Protestants are more influenced by Catholicsm than they know!), allow me to simply say that I am reading the book because I am interested in sources. I dwell in the realm of academics, where students are taught (...

As I sit here at the keyboard and think about writing, I think about how my journal first appears or how this page appears before me now. Line by line, page by page, the spaces will be filled in, from empty to full. As I write, this "clean slate" becomes less and less empty, more and more full. As a reader, you cannot see what I see. You see the result, the line upon line, page upon page, words creatively manipulated in space. Words do not fill up every space as space itself is used to differentiate between words. The space assists the communication process that you, dear reader, my ascertain what is on my mind, in my heart. (Anticipating the philosophical repercussions . . .) In a sense, this is our life. There is a writer and there is a reader of life. Who is the writer? Particularly, I am the writer of this entry, but I am not the author of my life. I am merely the page, as a book does not write itself, nor does it read itself but bears witness of that which is written. Th...

I love a good book. Here are some splendid quotes gleaned from the Free Book page at Monergism : "I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." -- Jorge Luis Borges "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." -- Francis Bacon. 1561-1626. Of Studies. "Too many books, not enough time." "Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore?" --Henry Ward Beecher Beware that you are not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge. -- John Wesley (1703-1791)

I had a terrifying dream last night—and one feature that bothers me about the dream is that it seems to have lasted the entire night. I woke a few times in the course of the evening; yet, when falling asleep again, the dream simply continued without interruption. Another feature of the dream is that it was disturbing. Very disturbing. A bad dream? No, disturbing—more than bad. I’ve wondered throughout the day if it was really a vision more than a dream. It was vivid, enduring, consistent over time and I remember it—which indeed is significant as I seldom remember any dream altogether. Whether dream or vision I don’t understand what it means nor do I understand what I am to do with it. One co-worker of mine tells me that dreams have significant in Pakistan. She recounted to me the occasion of a man to whom her husband was sharing the gospel. Being the good Muslim, he would talk and listen but would not submit to Christ. One day the man came and shared a dream he had the previous night. ...

There are times when amid all the stresses and tensions of life, when I find I am under intense pressure from all the demands placed on me. I am stressed physically, emotionally, spiritually, even financially. And I feel small. Squashed. inadequate. I am drained. Absolutely drained. I work, bills must be paid, church demands my attention, family needs a husband and father--and I am drained. Empty. I have nothing left to give. I am stripped of everything I can possibly have and all around me there is the incessant clamoring for more. It is during these times I stand and and scream inside: “WHAT IS LEFT TO GIVE?” Each time I meet the great needs in my life and realize I cannot fulfill, I remain to hear these words echoing chasmically all around me, “I need from you.” And all I have to say is “nothing remains.” I have nothing left to give. I’ve begun to realize that when all is gone, two things remain: myself (naked, bare) and God. This is a rather odd circumstance. I trust Him to provide...

(i wrote this about 3 years ago. i felt it was appropriate considering the context of previous posts). Read Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13 The Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus at His baptism was not an arbitrary event. The divine event marked the start of a life of dependence. We could spend the words discussing the humanity of God and the role of the Spirit in this regard; however, at this time we will be satisfied with this one principle: Jesus immediately demonstrated the human life in complete submission to God under the control of the Holy Spirit. He did not wander about letting life happen as He tried to discover where He could fit in. Rather, the divine work in humanity was happening to Him from the moment He was compelled to return from Jordan (Lk). Think about this: does “return from the Jordan” mean that He had once already been in the wilderness on His way to be baptized? If so, note: nothing significant happened between Galilee and the Jordan. In fact, nothing “note...

I mentioned previously that the whole temptation in the wilderness event was not to see if Jesus could cut it as the Son of God—like if He failed here they needed to find someone else for the job—but this is exactly where we join the conversation. Look at Satan’s challenge, “If you are the Son of God . . .” The second challenge is like unto the first. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The deceit, the lie of the devil consists of this, that he wishes to make man believe he can live without God’s Word. Thus he dangles before man’s fantasy a kingdom of faith, of power, of peace, into which only he can enter who consents to temptation; and he conceals from men that he, as the devil, is the most unfortunate and unhappy of beings, since he is finally and eternally rejected by God.” One writer called temptation, “a strong wind for a flickering flame.” Thomas A’Kempis from the 1300’s approaches temptation from another direction: “temptations are often very profitable to us, though they be troublesom...

Matthew 4 40 days is a long time on anybody’s calendar. I wonder what crossed His mind when the Holy Spirit prompted Jesus to go into the wilderness. I am sure it was not a spontaneous, “I think I’ll go to the wilderness for, I dunno, 40 days and eat nothing while there.” It’s not like it was “Survivor: The Wilderness” or an idea for a really cheap vacation. When the Holy Spirit brought this to His mind, what was His reaction. The most obvious reaction is that He went. But did He know He would be gone that long? Did He know He was not to pack a cooler? What there an overwhelming urge to go sit on some rocks and contemplate God? Was there an irresistible compulsion to go out of town for the purpose of seeing how much temptation one could endure? I cannot help but think of the level of awe and reverence some African tribes have for God. Their summations can help inform our theology: some see God as so transcendent, so far above and beyond, so “out there”, that He gave the stars just to p...

Matthew 3 As I write this, the music of Spring is piping outside my window. The performer has perched herself in a tree by my window and the heavenly bird-song provides a divine sound-track for this chapter as I read. I imagine the day here described was filled with just as much music and sunshine! C.H. Spurgeon wrote: “It is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself; to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has passed away, and to not the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of the Christian . . .” As he continues, the imagery brings the rain into a downpour, then a storm, then an outright hurricane! He closes, “O sinner, when wilt thou hide thy head, or whither will thou flee? O, that the hand of mercy may now lead you to Christ!” John the baptizer came along not as the rainstorm that ruins everyone’s parade, preaching repentance and the coming King, but he came as liquid sunshine that nourished dry and dyi...

Matthew 2. So that’s it, right? God did some strange and wonderful things before and He did it once more by causing a virgin womb to be with child. Remember all those barren wombs in time gone by? But here He is, Jesus is born, grows up and we are saved, right? No. History repeats itself. Precisely, God showed us in time past what He would do now. Reminiscent of creation in Genesis, a star captivates the hearts and minds of men and they come to worship. In the pattern of Exodus, the hateful king kills male children. Joshua and Jesus share the same name (Yeshua) and the people continue in their sin pattern as they did in Judges. Jesus is the Davidic King, only without an earthly throne—do you see where this is going? The prophets are quoted constantly by Matthew that the Jewish readers would not mistake who Jesus is—they should recognize Him! For all who pay attention, there is a play-by-play already written on the life of Jesus in the OT! His birth, life, death, resurrection, glorifica...

When I heard the reports, I was not certain what I was going to do. Part of me wanted to avoid it altogether; yet, I knew that curiosity would win out. I just had to see it. Nothing could prepare me for what I saw and heard. I’ve discovered (and hereby report) that words fail. There is no way words will communicate exactly what I would like to say about it. And I noticed that others are having the same problem--if indeed one could call it a problem. I’ve noticed that all I have read or heard mention that they come up against some barrier when trying to articulate their reactions. And we have most all heard the reactions. I now have a better grasp of who are believers and who are not. Obviously I am speaking once more of “The Movie”; or, as one put it in today‘s terms, “The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre”. I am convinced that the movie was not as graphic as the actual event and the movie delivered much more than anyone needed--or perhaps we did need it. I’ve talked about many aspects concernin...

Last week was the opening of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” (and with that statement I hereby join the millions who are spending this next part of their lives realizing how much harder it will be to rationalize sin). Last week was also our World Christian Week at Columbia International University (and with that identification I hereby declare my love for Christ Jesus and desire to be obedient to raise up disciples to Him). We heard Dr. Ramesh Richard speak last week on “God’s Heart: My Role” and he opened our University WCW Missions Conference by speaking on three big things we need to keep before us: Passion, Mission and Vision. The first of which actually had nothing to do with the movie; although Providentially blends my thoughts together here. Go here for the whole message: Life Rocks Dr. Richard helped us with understanding Passion by simply asking: “What do you get excited about? What do you love so much you would die for it? What have you set your heart on ?” He described ...