what we need

Matthew 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Matthew 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

These verses aren't typically put together. However, once put together they form an interesting bit of knowledge. Here's what it is: God provides for us everything that we need. What we need, more than anything else, is God. So therefore, God provides Himself for us. He will give Himself away to anyone who asks.

So there you are. All that you wanted to know.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Illuminating Shadows

I heard a song today on the radio. In the first verse, there was a line sort of like this: "it's hard to shine/when the shadows are closing in." The point of the song was how much we need Jesus, but this particular line. . .isn't quite accurate.

Think about it for a second. Imagine you have a flashlight. You're standing outside on a clear day, in full sunlight. You turn the flashlight on, and because it's so bright outside the flashlight makes no difference.

Then, you take the flashlight outside on a cloudy night. There is no moon, and the clouds dim even the light of the stars. Now turn on the flashlight--suddenly, it makes a tremendous difference. In the daytime, the world is so saturated in light already that the flashlight does nothing. In the night, the flashlight stands out more than anywhere else.

So, the point is this: we (christians) can't make a difference surrounded entirely by other Christians. The light has already filled this place. This isn't a bad thing, of course, which is not to be implied in any way.

But, there's more to this parable. The flashlight will make a larger difference if it's outside, but not if it's turned off. The object itself is as darkened as everything else, until it's turned on. Until an electrical current is running to and from the bulb, there will be no light in the night.

Point 2 is this: we can only make a difference among the lost, and only if we choose to reveal our light. The question is, what's the best we to reveal our light?

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Two Lists

Things that will not get you to heaven:

1. Killing people

2. Lying and being deceitful

3. Committing any form of adultery

4. Telling people about Jesus (what? this doesn't get you to heaven?)

5. Going to church (what are you talking about?)

6. Giving everything you own to the poor (this is in the wrong list, right?)

Things that will get you into heaven:

1. The blood of Jesus

2. . .

*********************************************

We'll have to wait on number 2, until our weapons become advanced enough to knock down the gates of heaven, or we figure out how to splice perfection into our DNA.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Him That Pisseth Against the Wall

The really funny part is that he's serious.

Goodbye, valiant watcher,

Mitchell

On Being Free

Why are small children (and sometimes not-so-small children) commonly afraid of the dark? What's scary about darkness? Have you ever noticed how strange this is? Really, there is nothing about the dark that should inspire fear. A tiger is scary, because it can kill you. A falling boulder is scary, because it can also kill you. Darkness, however, doesn't even have deadly potential.

I think that the reason is simply that we can't see in the dark. If we could see, the darkness wouldn't be scary. If we were like owls, however, and became blind in the light instead, I imagine that the daytime would be scary.

If we can't see, we have no control of anything around us. I think that humans are instinctively afraid of anything we can't control. The things that control us, therefore, are hated and feared universally. That's why freedom is so longed for by our species, and also why control of others is such a powerful desire.

However, we also have a problem. Along with the instinctive fear of being enslaved, we also seem to have an instinctive feeling of enslavement. Look at all the religions that have formed over the last few thousand years. All of them have a common thread: something powerful exists in a realm not quite visible, and it has the power to control us.

This is seen in all religions, major and minor. The aborigines of Australia belief in several types of spirits, which control every aspect of their lives. Hindus believe in hundreds of gods, all of which must be kept happy at all times. Even Buddhism, an atheistic religion, contains this thread. They believe that freedom comes from breaking out of the cycle of death and rebirth and death and rebirth and death and rebirth and so on.

There is only one religion which offers freedom. This is Christianity. However, Christianity offers freedom in a most unusual way: by becoming a slave.

Numerous times, Jesus refers to us as becoming slaves of God. Nearly every New Testament author makes the same reference. This, also, is how we become free. So maybe, freedom is not what we think it is. Maybe what we feel isn't a lack of freedom, but a lack of function. Instead of being free, what we need is to be part of something else.

Freedom, this means, is not what we think. Real freedom is control by something ultimately stronger than we are. This is an interesting paradox. I hope you thought so too.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Our Problem

Below is a quote from an interview with Luis Palau, a South American Evangelist, who is now a missionary to the USA.

"When I was in Chicago doing launch rallies for 'Say Yes Chicago,' a taxi driver took me to a press conference at Grant Park. The driver was a Muslim from Sudan, very talkative and eager to make me a Muslim. He was trying to convert me in the course of a ten-minute drive. I told him I was a Christian, which began a quick discussion about Jesus Christ. After a few minutes, he said, 'Islam is going to win in America. And we're going to win in the world. You Christians do not really believe Jesus Christ is the only answer and the only One.'

"I said, 'Of course we believe that.' He said, 'No, you don't. I've been here for six years, and I've hardly met a single American that believes Jesus is the only One and the only way and the only answer.'

"I was amazed, moved, rebuked, and ashamed. Here was a foreigner in America unashamedly trying to convert me in ten minutes. And meanwhile, we Christians beat around the bush. We are not convinced that people without Christ are truly, truly lost forever. If we did, we wouldn't be able to rest. We would jump at the chance to be part of a citywide crusade. If we believed that people were irrevocably lost without Christ, we would take advantage of every chance to preach the gospel."

That's a frightening thought, isn't it? That's all I have to say, since it's getting late and I need to sleep. By the way, I hope you had a happy Leap Day. As far as I'm concerned, it's definitely the best of all the holidays. Thanksgiving doesn't hold a candle to it.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Ten Commandments Minus One

It was my intention to talk some more about faith today. But instead, I'm going to talk about something else. As I mentioned very briefly, faith without works is dead. So what are works? This is important to determine before we can decide anything else.

Works means two things. The first is doing what God wants us to do, such as telling others about Jesus and such. The second is simply not sinning. So here's where ther question comes up: what does it mean to sin?

Sin is determined by the Law. The Law states what is sin, and the most commonly known part of the law is the Ten Commandments. Here's a list of the Ten Commandments (found in Exodus 20)

1 You will have no gods before The God

2 You will not have any idols (i.e. things that you place before God)

3 You will not misuse the name of God

4 Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

5 Honor your parents

6 Don't murder

7 Don't adulterate

8 Don't steal

9 Don't lie

10 Don't covet

Which one is hardest to keep? I would say number 2. It's hard to focus more on God than on anything else. Which one is kept the least often? This one, interestingly enough, is also the easiest to keep. It's number 4.

What is the Sabbath? The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (Saturday), which is intended by God to be a holy day. On the Sabbath, we are supposed to do no unnecessary work and spend our time worshipping God. How often do we do this? The not working part is easy--plenty of people manage to just do nothing on Saturday. However, we don't do the keeping-holy part of it.

The Law shows us what sin is and isn't (I'm not even talking about the complexities of sacrifice and the Feasts--just the Ten Commandents). If the Law says to do something, then not doing it is a sin, and vice-versa. The Law says to keep the Sabbath. So why don't we?

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Note: I have a new label for my posts. Important. This is for things that simply need to be said, regardless of their depth.