Haunted by a Jaded past,
never thought that love could last
Hope was but a castaway at sea
Skepticism took it's toll,
closed the windows to my soul
was fighting just to keep my sanity
~ Fearless by DC Talk
You know how you've done things that you'd rather others never learn that you did? No matter how small they are, they bring an assailant into your mind that suffocates your motion towards positive action. After all, even if you do the right, what's left in your past is there and you know it and you keep the windows closed. Sucking your thumb in a corner, you feel safe in your stealth as the blinds blot out the light. Stop fighting and seeking to keep your secrecy, God already knows. The sin you hold tightly shackles you to the ocean floor and drowns any glimmer of hope. That is the victory of the devil, that you will not act because of the mistakes he holds over your head. What is forgiven by the Lord is no longer remembered so ignore the taunts and move forward.
They watched as her assailant walked away. Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men.
~ Preacher in Boondock Saints
I will stand out if I do that. I might look stupid. My friends might laugh at me. But a cry in my bosom tells me to act and yet I don't. I tell myself that it doesn't really matter, that it's not that significant. At the end of the day Christ is still King and you know what I mean: move forward already.
"Always have faith in who you are."
~ Grandpa Gohan in Dragonball Evolution
Who are you? Are you a student? Are you a follower of Christ? Are you an alcoholic? Are you ready to answer? Be true to what you are because no matter what that is, if you don't know it, then you are living a moot point. In knowing yourself you can know your enemy. If your enemy to be external you can take a stance and face him/her and succeed, but if your enemy is internal you mustn't forget to deal with the demons within; recognize them and turn your guns inward for the real battle. (Yes, I did just turn DB evolution into a spiritual message.)
What you call yourself a Pyro when you just use matches? Ignite your flame and melt your impurities that you might help others. Go set the World Ablaze.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Random Bible thoughts
You know how that book always makes people think. Every time you pick it up and try to further digest its contents, something affects you. Why is that? Well, the answer is simple: Jesus. No, it's not a cop-out answer. Everything in the Bible points forward, directly concerns, or points back to Him.
Starting in Genesis, 3:15 to be exact, you have:
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
The seed? Yeah, the seed is Jesus while the woman likely points to Mary in one sense and to Eve in another sense.
To some point Midway in Isaiah, 52:13, you have:
"Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. "
You don't get much higher than a cross I suppose now do you? Yeah, the ever-sacrificing servant Jesus humbled to point of death on a cross rose to heights beyond imagination. Only Mary and John had faith enough to witness Jesus as the ultimate judo master when he performed his greatest feat. Jesus simply turned the devil's triumph on its head. Effectively making the whole crucifixion out to be the devil's biggest defeat.
To the more obvious locations in Luke (7:34)
"The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, 'Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' "
Who else, but the "Bar Adam", a phrase which having next to nothing to do with drinking has everything to do with Him being the Son of Man, was Jesus. Ironic that the "Bar Adam" if only half translated says Son of Adam which while pointing to Jesus' divinity also points to his fulfillment of the proclamation in Genesis above.
To nearly everything in Paul's letter's like Romans 6:6
"We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin."
A verse where Jesus again stands as a sort of centralized focus that the Bible clearly possesses.
The step that is harder to take for some but only complements the bible in a fashion similar to adding the right sauce to your favorite food, is based in the many Biblical T(or t)raditions of the Catholic Church. Take, for example, what Edward Sri refers to as a representation of how the spiritual gravity of Christ exists in one of the church's basic prayers.
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou amongst women and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, JESUS. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Just looking at the prayer one can see the centralizing nature of Jesus.
As a side analysis, the first part of the prayer is taken from Luke and the second half is a basic prayer for the intercession of the Queen-mother. Jesus as the Eternal King stands in fulfillment of the prefigurement provided by King David, and just as any Jewish King ought to, He has still to listen to his mother. This is easy to see if you take a look at how David acted around Bathsheba in her role as his wife and then compare that with how Solomon behaves around Bathsheba where there relationship is mother to son. Suffice to say, the Queen mother exists as one of the strongest intercessors in existence when seeking the King's help. After all, God (which includes Jesus) made the fourth commandment right? "Honor thy father and Mother."
Now, Go and Set the World Ablaze. No piddling fires please, go full pyro.
Starting in Genesis, 3:15 to be exact, you have:
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
The seed? Yeah, the seed is Jesus while the woman likely points to Mary in one sense and to Eve in another sense.
To some point Midway in Isaiah, 52:13, you have:
"Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. "
You don't get much higher than a cross I suppose now do you? Yeah, the ever-sacrificing servant Jesus humbled to point of death on a cross rose to heights beyond imagination. Only Mary and John had faith enough to witness Jesus as the ultimate judo master when he performed his greatest feat. Jesus simply turned the devil's triumph on its head. Effectively making the whole crucifixion out to be the devil's biggest defeat.
To the more obvious locations in Luke (7:34)
"The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, 'Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' "
Who else, but the "Bar Adam", a phrase which having next to nothing to do with drinking has everything to do with Him being the Son of Man, was Jesus. Ironic that the "Bar Adam" if only half translated says Son of Adam which while pointing to Jesus' divinity also points to his fulfillment of the proclamation in Genesis above.
To nearly everything in Paul's letter's like Romans 6:6
"We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin."
A verse where Jesus again stands as a sort of centralized focus that the Bible clearly possesses.
The step that is harder to take for some but only complements the bible in a fashion similar to adding the right sauce to your favorite food, is based in the many Biblical T(or t)raditions of the Catholic Church. Take, for example, what Edward Sri refers to as a representation of how the spiritual gravity of Christ exists in one of the church's basic prayers.
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou amongst women and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, JESUS. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Just looking at the prayer one can see the centralizing nature of Jesus.
As a side analysis, the first part of the prayer is taken from Luke and the second half is a basic prayer for the intercession of the Queen-mother. Jesus as the Eternal King stands in fulfillment of the prefigurement provided by King David, and just as any Jewish King ought to, He has still to listen to his mother. This is easy to see if you take a look at how David acted around Bathsheba in her role as his wife and then compare that with how Solomon behaves around Bathsheba where there relationship is mother to son. Suffice to say, the Queen mother exists as one of the strongest intercessors in existence when seeking the King's help. After all, God (which includes Jesus) made the fourth commandment right? "Honor thy father and Mother."
Now, Go and Set the World Ablaze. No piddling fires please, go full pyro.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Becoming innocent again?
It has in a manner of speaking occurred to me that there is an inherent flaw in Enigma’s manner in which to return to innocence. The call is to “just look into yourself” as the return to innocence. However, when one looks at an innocent child or watches the manners of an innocent child, one can't help but notice that their extreme outwardness is what makes them innocent. It is when they do things obviously for personal gain that they are, in a word, "not cute." I would therefore conjecture that an attempt to return to innocence has little or nothing to do with a mystic "power within" but rather deals directly with an outward selflessness.
Of course, this is not to say that their is no value in Enigma's Return to Innocence:
Don’t be afraid to be weak.
Don’t be too proud to be strong.
If you must then start to laugh.
If you must then start to cry.
Four points of advice that I would say point directly towards being honest with one's self.
Go and Set the World Ablaze
Of course, this is not to say that their is no value in Enigma's Return to Innocence:
Don’t be afraid to be weak.
Don’t be too proud to be strong.
If you must then start to laugh.
If you must then start to cry.
Four points of advice that I would say point directly towards being honest with one's self.
Go and Set the World Ablaze
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Audio Bibles for free?
http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com
Wow, this website is almost too good to be true!
Actually, some aspects may be just that.
Most of the versions are currently only completed through the New Testament. As I understand it though that will change over time so I am hardly complaining. ^_^
However, what I have noticed is that for whatever reason the NAB catholic version of the bible won't download. I don't know if it is because it just is not actually completed yet, or if there isn't much interest in passing it on. However, there is a button to download it for free from the store area. Ironically, clicking the download button for it allows me to download a ".dmg" file and then brings me to a section of their website on how to install the Mac version of their program. Call me crazy but I guess only Mac users can listen to the Catholic version?
On a positive note, I was able to get both an English and Japanese version of the NT downloaded before running into a brick wall. Maybe I will have to figure out later how to get it in other languages like Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Romanian. For now, I can listen to all of those directly through their website though.. . which only doesn't help me as far as my mp3 player is concerned.
Wow, this website is almost too good to be true!
Actually, some aspects may be just that.
Most of the versions are currently only completed through the New Testament. As I understand it though that will change over time so I am hardly complaining. ^_^
However, what I have noticed is that for whatever reason the NAB catholic version of the bible won't download. I don't know if it is because it just is not actually completed yet, or if there isn't much interest in passing it on. However, there is a button to download it for free from the store area. Ironically, clicking the download button for it allows me to download a ".dmg" file and then brings me to a section of their website on how to install the Mac version of their program. Call me crazy but I guess only Mac users can listen to the Catholic version?
On a positive note, I was able to get both an English and Japanese version of the NT downloaded before running into a brick wall. Maybe I will have to figure out later how to get it in other languages like Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Romanian. For now, I can listen to all of those directly through their website though.. . which only doesn't help me as far as my mp3 player is concerned.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Of Life and Death
This is a simple matter that extends little further than a simple question of "Life: yes or no?" but the problem is knowing what path to take to make life a reality. Christianity places a strong emphasis on the integral understanding that to move in accord with God is to seek life while to fall towards sin is to descend into death. So, I don't know about you but if that is true the answer would seem simple: we must move in accord with God's will.
I propose that to know what is in accordance with God's will is to follow the words of Christ, "You are my friends if you keep my commands." John 15:14
What then did he command us to do? Well, many things, but here are some examples.
1. Go therefore and make disciples of All nations (Mt 28:19)
I don't know about you but I am certainly not doing well on this one.
2. Do this in memory of me. (Luke 22:19)
Which this? Well, I do believe it was in the breaking of bread that they came to know Him on the road to Emmaus. Perhaps that is related?
3. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
He loved us so much as to spread his arms across and die. Can you pay the ultimate price for God?
So you see then... the dilemma is that to truly live, we must die. Die to this world so that we may live in the next.
"What you take won't kill you but be careful what you're given." Leonard Cohen
I propose that to know what is in accordance with God's will is to follow the words of Christ, "You are my friends if you keep my commands." John 15:14
What then did he command us to do? Well, many things, but here are some examples.
1. Go therefore and make disciples of All nations (Mt 28:19)
I don't know about you but I am certainly not doing well on this one.
2. Do this in memory of me. (Luke 22:19)
Which this? Well, I do believe it was in the breaking of bread that they came to know Him on the road to Emmaus. Perhaps that is related?
3. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
He loved us so much as to spread his arms across and die. Can you pay the ultimate price for God?
So you see then... the dilemma is that to truly live, we must die. Die to this world so that we may live in the next.
"What you take won't kill you but be careful what you're given." Leonard Cohen
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