Against Nothingness

When I was just a young man I met a B.C. girl; She'd warn me on my visits, with hey, ho, the wind and the rain. But I did not believe her, It never rained on me. Until I asked her hand - A riverside picnic that never was to be, for the rain it raineth every day.  When that I was and a little tiny boy,      With hey, ho, the wind and the rain: A foolish thing was but a toy,      For the rain it raineth every day.   Now I am a father and much a B.C. man; I'd warn them when they played with hey, ho, the wind and the rain. But children will be children, and nothing keeps them in, and thus we built mud castles, for the rain it raineth every day. But when I came to man's estate,      With hey, ho, the wind and the rain: 'Gainst Knaves and Thieves men shut their gate,      For the rain it raineth every day.  Sine then I've entered ministry and seen s...

"Jesus went into the desert to pray. That Pharisees accused him not of being a loner, but of hanging around too many people, especially the wrong sorts - harlots and drunkards and raffish fishermen. yet Jesus went into the desert to pray, and stayed there for forty days and forty nights, one day for each year it is said the Israelites spent in the Sinai on their journey of liberation from Egypt to the Promised Land. There in the desert, apart from cities and kingdoms, their leader Moses had heard the name of God, who called Himself I AM, or Being, or Love: since His saying "I AM" to the Israelites was also to say "I AM with you ." It was a revelation that shook the world. Likewise when Jesus returned from his prayer, his rich solitude, it was not to be some aloof guru, approachable only by a few. He traveled the length and breadth of Galilee and Judea, preaching to people one by bone, or by thousands and thousands. He came preaching in parables, i...

From many angles nothingness insinuates itself into the bones. For something without substance it is a powerful presence oft neglected. To go against the void may tear one apart; nature abhors a vacuum. Sometimes there is but one path: To stand. To stand, in silence, armored for the fight, and after all is said and done, to stand.  I often find the need to stand in such a way, as in the last months, and this blog has reflected that fact. For while grave nothing abounds around me, it is when I see it within me that I recoil most violently. Armor cannot hold one up if rotten from the inside and so that dark flow, though always present, once reared must be attended to with swift and ruthless action.  Perhaps I am back. Perhaps. 

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  - Jesus,  John 10:10 Many times have I reflected on these words. Many times have I heard them, and their theme, expounded upon. It seems you can't read a "christian living" book (what a term for a sub-genre... oh, how I could rant here...), or one of its modern cognates, without at least a word, more likely a chapter, to say nothing of entire books, on this subject. I suppose this reflects the fact that we all desire 'life to the full.' We mostly don't know what it is we are asking for, but we are very sure we want it.  Where I begin to despair is when these authors, or speakers (let us not forget the faults of preachers and pastors, of which I am one, in this same subject!), having spoken of the promise, and our desire for it, turn to what we should do. I picture that lonely pilgrim Christian, standing in the fields, looking this way and that yet not moving, for he knew not w...

"This doctrine of equality is essential to conversation; so much may be admitted by anyone who knows what conversation is. Once arguing at a table in a tavern the most famous man on earth would wish to be obscure, so that his brilliant remarks might blaze like the stars on the background of his obscurity. To anything worth calling a man nothing can be conceived more cold or cheerless than to be king of your company." - G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong With the World I am not the most famous, nor brilliant, of men, but I have to say that I completely agree with Chesterton. It is an occasion for utmost satisfaction when, in the company of those who do not know me (read: most people), that very fact makes the truth shine all the brighter.  I think about this in terms of ministry and am put in mind of John the Baptist's words: "He must become greater; I must become less." I desire for people to take note of my sermons because they are true and good and po...

James C. Wilhoit, Leland Ryken. Effective Bible Teaching. 2nd Edition. Baker Academic, 2012. The bible is not an entirely easy book, to say the least. Much of it is odd, difficult, and strange. So, how does one go about effectively understanding and communicating Scripture? This is precisely what Wilhoit and Ryken seek to aid the reader in doing. They do this in three parts: what is effective teaching? How do we teach the bible? and how do we understand the bible we teach? In basic outline, this is a combination instruction manual which gives you the basics of inductive bible study as well as principles for biblical interpretation. What you will find here is a sound book. It is not presented in a particularly stirring way; much of it is quite dry. It is also quite true. It is a good place to start. I will still be recommending How to Read the Bible for All it's Worth to those who want to read scripture well. It's not that Effective Bible Teaching  is wrong, or even...

I do not know where it is writ that I must bow to feeling, but often my own melancholy sends me off and reeling.  I start my day, or come to church, in no mood for joy or celebration And soon enough I find myself encased with irritation.  Yes, those dark clouds quite easily set the pace and smother out the light, But I thank the Lord that he has given me a tool to set me right.  David sat amidst the sheep, composing songs of glory And within them he placed all feelings, hope to pain to worry.  Now I find, to my delight, that upon their reading My feelings bow to His and my darkness starts receding.  Once again light sets the tone and I do remember That God is king and leads the way though my sins still linger.  Now the worship, or the day, can be a place of peace, As I seek out God Almighty and let my strivings cease.   I do not know where it is writ that I must bow to feeling, but the Psalms clearly declare the only wa...