for me, a mere man,

For me,

a mere man,

to throw myself into the war where the conclusion is written into reality by He who is divine certainly seems to be throwing myself into the wisest existence but throwing oneself begins with no regard to oneself.

The very thought of loosing ones life is of no concern.

To be mutilated is of no second thought.

To be alone is requested to no one.

To be diseased is reasoned.

To be... well... being is never even considered for those who throw themselves into the valley of life.

The life where every breath taken is like a fiery breath that is only experienced by those who have died and come back to life, the ever present awareness of holiness, wonder, and awe that is only given by those whose lives were forsaken, who died, when there bodies flailed wildly in there descent into war of existence. This war authored by the divine "I Am" where being is truly seen as each breath, every moment, second. The war is "not against flesh and blood" but rather to attain these moments of holiness, to be captivated not in ourselves but in the awe, the screaming glory of God in all of creation that has always beaten its chest to be none by all who oppose. I must conclude that to those who say there is no God are cowards. They look over the chasm of reality, of true reality, and walk inland to join with the rest of the cowards who say, this is all there is, we are it. Galileo's contenders have not given up there post quite yet. The earth has been laid up on the proverbial couch and diagnosed as a narcissus including all the inhabitants in it and they are lead to believe there life is of temporary worth.

Cowards,

they are all cowards!!

For me,

a mere man,

I stand before the valley of truth and dive.

I dive without looking, knowing where it leads or what will happen.

I know what awaits, I died before the thought.

So I dive,

me a mere man,

I dive into its bleeding side.

Truth is a bloody truth.

The Un-evangelized.

To begin I need to clarify a very important point. I understand that there may be many who disagree with me and for that I thank you in advance. Yet, my intention is to try and steer away from a concrete answer. This may sound contradictory already because I’m obviously taking a position and this is a positional paper but, to define the justice and love of God is something that honestly I feel is impossible to do and that we do not have a right to impose our western/American idea of justice on a God who’s very character consists of pure justice. For we know that our “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34) so this is a justice that is not even conceivable by our hearts who sway so frequently, let alone something that we may agree with.

Let me also clarify that we are talking about those, as our text says, that either “chronologically or geographically” have not heard the name of Jesus. God looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7b) because of this he can apply the reconciling work of Christ to all who has a heart to receive it.

The atoning work of Jesus must be understood as a universal reconciling work (Col. 1:20) that is not constrained to merely those who believe (Rom. 5:6). This reconciling work is not an exclusive accomplishment given to those who are the elect but it is an inclusive work that is universal in its effect. This is not for me to make a case for universalism I'm not making a case for my soteriological position, I am speaking of the great and mighty power of our God and his love for all (1 John 4:16) and his desire for none to perish (2 Peter 3:9) but to know him. But to those who hear the message of Jesus and turn there back on the Son by denying this reconciliation of all creation back to God are those that shall be judged and delivered into the hands of the evil one.

In Acts 14:15-18 when Paul uses the word nations (v.16) the Greek word “ethnos” literally means “heathen or gentile tribes”. In the following verse Paul assures the people of Lystra that there pursuit of gods is actually a pursuit of the one true God who “has not left himself without a witness”, looking at the context we know that he specifically is referring to the Gentile peoples who have not heard of YHWH or of this Jesus until Paul brings this message. God’s grace knows no bounds so it is not limited to God’s dependence on us to carry his message. Im not saying he doesn’t use us to spread the gospel and to make disciples I believe we are all called to do this and to stray away from the great commission for anyone is to stray away from the nature of the gospel, my own conviction mind you. I believe we place too much of what we think is “God’s work” upon ourselves and we don’t realize that he doesn’t need us. He always has had a witness. Missionally I believe we are all called, no excuse, to be bearers of the gospel into all nations. This is the clear objective to every disciple, but we should know that God doesn’t need us; we need God.

There is light in all of us (John 1:9) this light is the life of Jesus and that life of Jesus is the light in all men. We are not children of God by “human decision” (John 1:13) but children by believing in his name (John 1:12), which was a very old way of saying the work or nature of the person. Well to those who’s hearts who don’t know the exact name to say, which Jesus’ name is actually Yeshua or Joshua, God knows what there hearts are saying and knows they are his who are continually seeking him by faith (Heb 11:6) and for that he loves them.

[open my lips that my mouth may declare your praise]

"God is the ocean and we are the waves. In some sense each wave has its moment in which it is distinguishable as a somewhat seperate entity. Nevertheless, now wave is enitrely distinct from the ocean which is substantial ground. The waves are surface manifestations of the ocean. Our knowledge of the ocean is largely dependent on the way it manifests itself in the waves."

-Richard Rubenstein

Honor. Glory.

He was rejected by his nation, his hometown, his friends.

He was tempted by Satan.

He was ridiculed because of his hometown and his background.

He was accused of being demon possessed.

He was threatened by Herod (the ruler of the Judea), his hometown, the Jews, by the devil.

He was homeless.

He was betrayed by a follower and companion.

He was denied by his friend.

He was misunderstood by his disciples.

HE WAS FORSAKEN BY ALL.

He was misquoted.

He was tried ILLEGALLY seven times.

He was indicted by false charges.

He was mocked by Roman soldiers, by the watching crowd, by the chief priests.

He was tortured, slapped, blindfolded, spit upon, beaten, scourged, pierced with thorns, and hit over the head.

He was crucified.

The most comforting thing I've found in the incarnation is this: that God came into the world so that he could scream alongside with us.

We find honor in sharing the sufferings of the Christ.

We find Glory awaiting for us.

Yet we must expect nothing in something.

Present History

Each passing moment turns to history.

These moments that fall into a domino effect of events determines not only our own present situation but those of many others. We are held in responsibility for the stewardship of our time.

I was looking at the life of Jacob.

Jacob whenever he chose to be the deceiver changed his life farther and farther away from the place where God wanted him to be.

He eventually ended up running away from his Father, Brother, and even his Mother.

Leaving his entire past behind to pursue his own future, alone. He ended sleeping on a rock have an incredible dream of a ladder.

Woke up, realized God had been there all along and he decided to run away from God too.

His history determined his present to only know to run.

He didn't realize that these moments were history not just some ordinary moments that walk by slow enough to peer into and evaluate.

He was to be equivalent to his father and even his grandfather.

He was to carry the covenant and through him, all the nations would be blessed.

He kept running away from history.

We know that later, as a man, he came back and re-entered history. It took some effort wrestling with an "angel" can be tough, but he eventually would take his vacant seat as Israel.

It was a journey, but through that, History endured and how blessed we all are because of this.

Everything we do matters. Either human actions are connected to what happens in the universe, or they are not. And if everything is connected to everything else, then sooner or later everything matters; everything is potentially historic.

So I pray to learn that history is active in my life and all others. That I would realize that God is in this place, so I may know it. That he is active, constant, and loving.

A Confession of Autonomy

I lose my temper because I want things to be better right away. I gaze with lustful eyes because I have forgotten how to love the ones I want to love. I hoard material possessions because I imagine they will help me love more fully. I turn a deaf ear, for I fear the pain of listening would kill me. I waste time, because I am not sure how to enter a living relationship. I even tolerate a society that murders, because I am convinced it is the best way to save more life. At the bottom of this behavior is something that was once holy. And during this rare time of holy communion and interaction with self, and light my personal and collective perversions creep out of the clear, begging to be healed, freed, and redeemed.

So when I pray I become more distracted by the bad that my unconscious has allowed to go unnoticed until the very moment that it needs to be released, in prayer. I take time to allow these things to surface so that i my tear them away from my spirit to be found holy and pure. I can empty myself out in prayer, completely open and vulnerable to God and to the ones of those who hear to be made pure for even an instant.

How I long to be pure and holy. I believe that is what we all long for to be found holy in the eyes of God. I believe that is why frustration and depression cloud my mind to delude the fact of my primal need and desire to be pure.

To be found in the presence of the almighty.

To "dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life and to gaze upon his beauty."

I long for eternity.

I long for that fruit that the cheribum with the fiery sword is guarding.

To be in the Garden, and to take from that tree of eternal life.

So that I can be forever in the presence of my Father.

The way is set, and the way is narrow.

The truth comes through one and by one.

That is Jesus Christ.

May Christ be our center that we view and see the beginning and the end through and in the eyes of Christ.

Reason-the end of the logos.

Reason is...

the human logos attempting to capture, control, and even manipulate the eternal Logos-Jesus Christ.

So it would be for our own benefit to never ask God,

"How?"

but only

"Who?"

The answer we know would be the same, Jesus.

But, it is the sincere desire for a journey to ask questions for we know the end,

getting there is the only dynamic, the only adventure.