A Brief Thought On Correction

For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives." -Hebrews 12:6

When was the last time you thanked God for His correction. Understanding that if the Lord does not rebuke you He does not love you is not the same as hearing it and nodding assent. The scripture, however, is both true and sufficient. I pray that I will thank the Lord for His rebukes. I want to be loved, after all.

This our cry
Is from our hearts
And comes from places rarely trod
And we who voice
Our deepest thoughts
Are listening for our savior's call.

And How Has His Wrath Turned?

"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not a man, The Holy One in your midst; and I will not come with terror. -Hosea 11:8-9

The Lord wishes for His children to be well- and how have we separated this from His commands?

Quote of the Week XXIII

The Spiritual Gift of Wisdom Defined

The gift of wisdom is the ability to have insight into people and situations that is not obvious to the average person, combined with an understanding of what to do and how to do it. It is the ability to not only see, but also apply the principles of God's Word to the practical matters of life by the "Spirit of wisdom" (Eph. 1:17). -Mark Driscoll on "The Resurgence" blog

And The Pain, It Stops You...

I should be working
But instead, I'm paralyzed by the pain of your loss
It seems like I can only hurt for one of you at a time
I can think about some of the others-- the litany,
But I can only feel one at a time.

I always wish it was me and not you
I always wish I could have helped
I always wished I could have been there
I always wish...

The days go by and a year draws close
I had the strangest thing happen to me not too long ago--
And guess who I would like to tell but can't...
I wish I could tell you of my new joy...

I'm making coffee at night-- it reminds me of you (and so many others...)
I'm praying that God will let me work
But the pain is too much
And I cannot ignore the pain- even for my own good.

I know that the Lord keeps His sheep,
I know that they hear his voice
I know that I miss you
I wish you were here, Nick, I wish you were here...

I measure every grief...

It is sometimes a truly wondrous thing how poetry can express what prose cannot. Grief is a hard thing that every man has to deal with in their lives. If you choose not to deal with your grief (whatever that may be), you condemn yourself to more misery. Artists tend to have more experience with expressing grief- but don't let that fool you... that does not mean they know how to deal with it...

I measure every grief I meet
With analytic eyes;
I wonder if it weighs like mine,
Or has an easier size.

I wonder if they bore it long,
Or did it just begin?
I could not tell the date of mine,
It feels so old a pain.

I wonder if it hurts to live,
And if they have to try,
And whether, could they choose between,
They would not rather die.

I wonder if when years have piled--
Some thousands--on the cause
Of early hurt, if such a lapse
Could give them any pause;

Or would they go on aching still
Through centuries above,
Enlightened to a larger pain
By contrast with the love.

The grieved are many, I am told;
The reason deeper lies,--
Death is but one and comes but once
And only nails the eyes.

There's grief of want, and grief of cold,--
A sort they call 'despair,'
There's banishment from native eyes,
In sight of native air.

And though I may not guess the kind
Correctly yet to me
A piercing comfort it affords
In passing Calvary,

To note the fashions of the cross
Of those that stand alone
Still fascinated to presume
That some are like my own.

- Emily Dickinson

It is a strange comfort to know that you are not alone. I wish that I could really convey my gratitude to all the people (strangers and friends alike) who God has used to show me that I am not alone in my struggles- not alone in my grief. I'll start with the dead... Thank you Emily, I mean that.

Pleasing Everyone Pleases No One

President Obama gave a speech last Tuesday (April 14th) at Georgetown University on his over-arching plan to fix the current economic crisis. He made a little bit of a stir before he even began speaking, though.

Religious Symbols Hidden

Before President Barack Obama spoke from Gaston Hall at Georgetown University last week, his advance team requested that the university hide or remove any religious symbols or signs while the president was on stage. Of the more prominent was a monogram IHS, whose letters in Greek spell out the name of Jesus and which normally perches above the stage in Gaston Hall. During the address, the monogram was covered with what appeared to be black wood.

Georgetown is a private Catholic institution founded by Jesuits in 1789. The auditorium in which the president spoke is normally adorned with religious imagery, but only the symbols directly on the stage — those likely to be picked up by a television camera — were obscured.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, accused the university of "cowardice" for acceding to the While House, and criticized Obama's team for asking a religious school to "neuter itself" before the president made his address. "No bishop who might speak at the While House would ever request that a crucifix be displayed behind him," said Donohue.

The White House said that the backdrop, which included blue drapes and a host of American flags, was standard during policy speeches and other events.

Though the advance team asked that the religious signs be veiled, the president himself included in his message an analogy from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as he outlined his plans for an economic recovery. "We cannot rebuild the economy on the same pile of sand," he said. "We must build our house upon a rock." [FoxNews.com]
(From "The Pastor's Weekly Briefing"(a pastoral ministry of Focus on the Family) by H.B. London Jr.)

I would suggest that if you travel somewhere, you should be more respectful to the people you are visiting. If you disagree with them on something- you should do it in the open. If you do not think that you should be associated with them, perhaps you should not visit. Here is the video of the speech for anyone interested:

Seasons of Grief

The days come and the days go
But all the memories remain
Frozen in time, fallen in snow
A winter museum for the sane.

I remember your smile and remember your laugh
And all the goofy things you did
You shone like a star and then you burned out
And now your light is hid.

I cry in the sun and cannot hold back
And in the brightest of days
I wish you were here and had never gone
But your memory remains.

Entrapment

Rose, 20-year-old UCLA student and president of the nonprofit Live Action, entered Planned Parenthood's Memphis Health Center undercover and told a counselor that she was 14 years old, pregnant by her 31-year-old "boyfriend" and needed a secret abortion so her parents would not find out about her sexual relationship with the older man.

"Tennessee Code 37-1-605 requires health professionals to report suspected cases of sexual abuse of minors to law enforcement immediately," the group said.

"The Planned Parenthood counselor hears about the abuse, says she should report it, decides to remain silent, then tells me to lie to the judge about 31-year-old man," Rose said of the video. -From World Net Daily

You know that people do not really think that speeding is wrong because they speed, they lie about speeding, and they do not care if others speed. You know that a person does not think that statutory rape is wrong (as well as abortion), when she tells a girl she believes to be a teenager to lie to her parents, the police, and a judge if need be to avoid the consequences of the statutory rape and abortion (which itself is an attempt to avoid consequences).

How can you make a person feel something? You can't. How can you make a person desire to do right and be moral? You can't. Where does that leave us?