Vine and Fig

Smell of Sacrifices

2012-02-11T06:22:00.000-06:00

In my mind, I smell the ancient Jewish Temple--
Smoke of sacrifices
And of incense
Rising up to Yahweh.
I smell it
Over all the area,
Permeating the place.

The Temple's gone, the sacrifices stopped,
But the smell continues--
Smoke of sacrifices of his people,
Incense of their prayers,
Rising up to Yahweh.
I smell it
Over his true people,
Permeating all around.

For those who are perishing,
The fragrance of their coming death.
For those who are being saved,
The fragrance of their coming life.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV

The Roman Catholic Church Is Right This Time

2012-02-10T19:23:00.000-06:00

Photo by paparutzi; photo license here.

First, a couple of disclaimers:

This isn't basically a political blog, and I don't intend to make it one. The solutions to my nation's problems are mostly spiritual, not political.
As most of you know, I'm not a Roman Catholic. A number of their beliefs are un-biblical.

Now, let me begin. In the Roman Catholic Church's recent controversy with President Obama concerning contraception, the President was wrong--and still is wrong. If the government can compel Roman Catholic organizations to pay for contraception under every health insurance policy they buy (pay for it, whether directly or as a part of a package), then the government is forbidding them to practice their religion freely. I'm scared of the Roman Catholic Church's doctrines, but I'm more scared of having a government that tells me that I'm free to practice my religion, but only if I don't do it in public; don't do it in my daily life. Christianity is, by its very nature, a religion that requires actions in public. It requires living in righteousness. It requires exposing evil.

As for contraception itself, the Lord said to be fruitful and multiply. He didn't say to "be prosperous and limit your offspring."

The religious laws of the Jews didn't keep a woman pregnant all of the time. The prescribed waiting period for sexual relations after a birth would have kept a couple apart during some of the most fertile times of her life. Now, I don't believe we are bound by all of the uncleanness laws, but I believe that (at the very least) people (and churches and religious organizations and leaders of NON-religious organizations) should be free to follow their consciences on this matter.

The Monster Within

2012-02-08T22:12:00.000-06:00

The monster within
Would woo me and thrill me
And ruthlessly kill me.

The monster within
Would wine me and bed me
And gnaw me and shred me.

The monster with--
My enemy, sin.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin
and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
(Romans 6:11 ESV)

For if you live according to the flesh you will die,
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

(Romans 8:13, ESV)

The illustration is cypress tree roots (or "knees"). They aren't sinister, but they can look odd.

Lord Jesus Christ, I Want to Know You

2012-02-03T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Blog12

Lord Jesus Christ, I want to know you--

To know you as a person,
And not just a force;
To know you as a person
Who plans my life's course.

To know you as my Savior,
And not just as law.
To know you as my Savior
From guilt red and raw.

To know you in your fullness,
And not just in part;
To know you in your fullness,
The depths of your heart.

To know you in your suffering,
And not just your youth;
To know you in your suffering
For speaking the truth.

To know you in your rising,
And not just your death;
To know you in your rising--
My source of each breath.

To know you in your power,
And not in my own.
To know you in your power
That you make my own.

Lord Jesus Christ, I want to know you.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

But we have this treasure in jars of clay,
to show that the surpassing power belongs to God
and not to us.
(2 Corinthians 4:7 ESV)

I used the photo of the three stems, as a reminder (NOT as a representation) of the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

Lord, You Own Me

2012-01-31T20:53:00.000-06:00

Self-portrait: Reflection in Refrigerator Door

Lord, You own me...

Own my entire life.

If you only

Give me pain or strife,

Still you own me...

Own my entire life.

Lord, You own me.

You own all my days.

Fill me wholly.

Shape and use my ways.

Lord, You own me;

You own all my days.

You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

(1 Corinthians 7:23 HCSB)

Red Spot

2012-01-30T06:14:00.000-06:00

Red Spot II, Wallisy Kandinsky

A surfboard, a spider and an eclipse
Met with some triangles and guitar picks.
Fresh green and clean red--no color to lack--
Bright yellow and blue, pure white and deep black.
Their shapes slightly giddy; all slightly a-whirl,
They danced and they partied like blithe boys and girls.

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:7 ESV)

I don't endorse Kandinsky's theories of art, but I recognize his amazing artistic ability.
For other people's thoughts on this same image, click here.

This particular poem by JLS is public domain, 2012.

God With Us

2012-01-26T06:13:00.000-06:00

From Blog12

God with us
in our mornings and our evenings
in our working and our resting
in our waking and our sleeping
in our living and our dying

Not just over us, but with us.
Not just a king with us, but God.
Not just with someone, but with us.

All praise to Him!

Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
(Psalm 150:1 ESV)

The Moon Is Whispering

2012-01-20T05:56:00.000-06:00

From Blog12

The moon is whispering tonight
Of winging bats
And yowling cats
And other things like that.

The moon is whispering tonight
Of mating frogs
And sleeping dogs
And fetid bogs.

The moon is whispering tonight
Of scenes of long ago...

Old Jacob's dream
And Cleo's barge
And wars writ large.

The moon is whispering tonight.

He made the moon to mark the seasons
--Psalm 104:19a

Apostasy

2012-01-17T06:12:00.000-06:00

From Blog12

Apostasy appears slyly at first,
Disguised as tolerance,
Disguised as a broader gospel,
An advance of faith.

It wears a smile
And waits awhile,
Mixing subtle lies
With loads of truth.

Then, once it's grown,
It shows its truer self,
Tolerating everything
But the truth about Jesus.

Apostasy is
A hungry lion in the nursery,
A rattlesnake in the baby's crib.
A poison pill in the bottle of medicine.

If you let it grow,
You'll be left with
A hollow faith, rejecting the real Jesus.
Confident in lies, abandoning Truth.

You'll have religion without redemption,
Spirituality without the Spirit,
Songs without salvation,
Respectability with eternal death.

Wake up! Repent!
The Lord commands you to obey.
Return to him with fiery zeal.
Kill the lies before they kill you.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
--2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV

A City and a King

2012-01-10T21:20:00.001-06:00

image: Lee Friedlander

I have a city and a king,
But not the city Broadway knows,
And not the king the stages sing--
No, not the king this photo shows.

I have a city and a king--
A king who's strong, but knows my name;
His presence makes my glad heart sing
And dance with joy and praise his fame.

My city reaches skyful height
And yet it shines beneath one's feet.
It's always day there, never night,
And gold is pavement on the street.

I haven't seen that city yet,
Its king is not just yet in view,
But he has promised we will get
To be there--home--forever new.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
-Revelation 21:2 ESV

...for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.

--Jeremiah 2:13 ESV

From Blog12

For other people's thoughts on the New York City image, click here.

Obedience

2012-01-08T13:38:00.000-06:00

From Blog12

The joy of obedience
Fully is known
Once we are raised and are
Facing God's throne.

The path of obedience
Sometimes is hard.
We must be careful and
Stay on our guard.

This holy obedience--
Fighting sin's pull--
Helps us to grow; to have
Life to the full.

After the battles, the
Riches are vast.
The fruit of obedience
Tastes sweet at last.

...through whom [Jesus] we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations...
--Romans 1:5 ESV

I Roamed the Serengeti (Humor)

2012-01-06T05:07:00.001-06:00

I roamed the Serengeti
And thought of J. Paul Getty
Out standing on a jetty
While eating cold spaghetti...
And then I thought, I'll bet he
Has never seen a yeti.

John the Baptist

2012-01-04T06:07:00.000-06:00

From Blog12

Rough as a lumberjack,,
Pure as a child,
Braver than soldiers,
John came preaching.

He'd never been to church growth training,
Didn't stick to positive thinking,
Didn't wear fine clothes.
John came preaching.

He called people snakes.
He warned of wrath to come,
To fall on fruitless trees.
John came preaching.

Proclaiming hope,
Demanding repentance,
Demanding real fruit,
John came preaching.

With practical truth
And holy baptism
And power from God,
John came preaching.

Proclaiming the LORD's ways
And the LORD's promise
And the LORD's Messiah,
John came preaching.

...During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
--Luke 3:2-3 ESV

Satan's Fall

2012-01-02T21:13:00.000-06:00

When did Satan fall?
After God made all
Angels, seraphim,
Heaven holding them.

Why did Satan sin?
Something foul within:
Blooming, stinking pride
That God can't abide.

What is Satan's end?
Jesus Christ will send
Him to endless flame--
Satan and his fame.

...And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
--Revelation 20:10 ESV

Rest of the Weary

2011-12-27T18:33:00.000-06:00

Vine and Fig

Smell of Sacrifices

The Roman Catholic Church Is Right This Time

The Monster Within

Lord Jesus Christ, I Want to Know You

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Lord, You Own Me

Red Spot

God With Us

The Moon Is Whispering

Apostasy

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A City and a King

Obedience

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I Roamed the Serengeti (Humor)

John the Baptist

Satan's Fall

Rest of the Weary

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