Rom 1

Date: 7 February 2009

Events:

Slept in (still on leave), read, wrote, played with Sadie and by the time I had finished, Marla was home and we watched a great show on the History Channel called Bible Battles. In Bible Battles, the commentators are all military historians and they follow Israel from the Joshua through the Judges and into Saul’s reign discussing the tactic’s Israel used in each significant battle. The show had great graphic depictions of the battles, knowledgeable commentary and a good bit of theatrics during the battles. It gave a good impression of how bloody war was back then. The Military historians, of course, interpret all campaigns strictly from a tactical standpoint, often butchering the theology but it was a very good show overall and I would highly recommend it. Marla and I went out to a Brazilian Steakhouse last night with some great friends and it was amazing!

Bible:

ROMANS

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which

he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Bible Thoughts:

1. By way of an introduction to Romans, let me first say this is my favorite book in the bible. Romans was written to Christians in Rome that Paul had never met. Therefore, instead of dealing with specific issues as we will see in most of his other epistles, Paul moves systematically through the doctrines of the faith. My love for this book, however is far deeper than simply as a great doctrinal work as this book was instrumental in my final conversion to Christianity. Though for years, I had gone to Church and considered myself a Christian, in the summer of 1999 I went off to ROTC Advanced Camp in Fort Lewis Washington. My battle buddy for the 8 weeks was a solid Christian guy and though we never discussed theology he would often sing or hum as we trekked through the woods. It was at Advanced Camp that I felt an inner change occur that I was unable to describe until years later. Barely aware of the change at the time, I never mentioned it and probably wrote it off as sleep deprivation. When I returned to Fort Worth, however, the change was more evident. I no longer wanted to hang out with my girlfriend of 3 years and had a great urge to read a bible. I finally stopped one day, randomly opened the bible to a book and started reading. And what book did I randomly open to but Romans. I had likely seen or at least heard some verses from Romans prior to this experience but for the first time, I understood what I was reading. Through sort of a Never Ending Story experience, as I moved through Paul’s exposition of the universality of sin, the fall of man, the origin of my faith and my necessary response, I found myself and my faith in the text. In my opinion, my heart was regenerated, “reborn” (not by my own will/desire) that summer at Advanced Camp and I repented and believed that August back in Fort Worth. God may correct me when I get to heaven but that’s my testimony. The Lord must hold Romans in high esteem as He used it to awaken not only my soul, but Luther’s as well (comment 11).

2. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle” If asked, I feel that Paul would echo my own experience of contributing nothing to salvation. Instead of an actor’s/effectors our conversions we were, instead, acted upon. Far from weighing the cost/benefit of the gospel and deciding to internally muster a belief, quite the contrary, one day a belief was given to us by external, irresistible force. Paul’s conversion experience in which was called to apostleship and became a servant of Christ was, however, a bit more dramatic than my own. As a Jewish Pharisee from birth, Paul (Saul at that point) had spent his life zealously studying the scriptures. Paul was passionate for his Jewish faith as demonstrated by how aggressively he persecuted the Christians even condoning the killing of our first martyr Stephen (Acts 7). This, however, changed in an instant (and quite contrary to his will I might add) when Christ appeared to Paul and irresistibly drew him to apostleship. The story is awesome and classic please enjoy it again:

Acts 9:1-19

9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 5 And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." 13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.
From this point onward Saul’s (Paul) life was irresistibly altered. There would be no more sleeping in a comfortable bed, no more life with his immediate family, no more standing in a place of honor as a Pharisee. Instead Paul was conscripted to become, in my opinion, the most influential of all the apostles. Paul left his life of comfort and accolade to become a missionary to the gentiles, despised by his own people. The life Paul found in Christ, however, was more full of love, grace, peace and contentment than any he could of dreamt of as a Pharisee (see the last chapter of any of his epistles or Philippians). His eternal reward was secured, Paul embarked on his exciting and eternally fulfilling journey.

3. …gospel of God… And, why was Paul willing to forsake all becoming a slave to Christ and apostle to the Gentiles? The Gospel, the “good news” to the world that whereas the Law that Paul knew so well promised only condemnation and death, Christ, living a perfect life earned for us all of the reward of heaven and in his death paid the final sentence due the law. Now through belief (honoring) Christ’s historic person and work we can be imputed (given) his merit unto heaven and his death can be our paid debt.

4. …promised beforehand through his prophets… who was descended from David… Why had Paul and the other Pharisee’s not recognized Jesus as the promised messiah? They had misinterpreted the Old Testament prophesies. The Jews were looking for a king in the worldly sense who would save them from their worldly oppressors forever. The Jews expected the messiah to be a militant king like David who would lead them in conquering the world. Thus, when Christ died there hope was lost. As grand as their expectations for the prophesied messiah were, they were none-the-less far too small. Far greater than rescuing the Jews to a worldly comfort and security, in Christ’s death, He has rescued them to an eternal comfort and security; and, far greater than a militant conquer of the gentiles, he has conquered without weapons but with an offered assimilation into the promises of the Jews. The Prophesy concerning the messiah is extensive and all points accurately to the life and work of Jesus Christ.

5. …declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead… As discussed yesterday in Matthew 28, our best evidence that Christ truly was the son of God, lived without sin, and paid our debt was death’s inability to hold him. Likewise, our hope rests solidly in the fact that as Christ conquered death, through his completed work, so shall we.

6. 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, Paul could mean one of two things here, if Paul speaks to the “general call” (as this is prior to addressing the saints) then it is true, the whole world is called to belong to Christ, some of course will not heed this call. On the other hand Paul may be speaking of the "effectual call" meaning that if people are reading his letter and professing to be believers we can make the safe’ish assumption that they have been effectively called (given faith). The point worth making is that Human’s are free to follow their will, their will however is never neutral. Without Gods supernatural intervention (effectual call) people will invariably follow their own selfish desires not submitting to Christ’s lordship. It is only through God’s regeneration of the person that they are then able to respond affirmatively to the gospel and submit to Christ’s lordship.

7. 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Always important to recognize who the letter is addressing many a theological argument can be resolved by simply determining who the author is talking to. For instance, I would discuss different issues in different ways with my wife, vs. my Christian friends, vs. my non-Christian friends. I might write a love letter to my wife, addressed to my wife, that taken out of context and applied to my friend Joel would look quite inappropriate

8. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. My question to the Arminean (free-willer’s) is… if faith is entirely something that you internally drum up and you are not influenced by God in any external way, so as to impede your freedom, then why does Paul thank God for the disciple’s faith at the beginning of every one of his letters??? Paul does not thank God for simply opening the way to salvation but for their faith. If God has nothing to do in influencing or giving with your “freely” self-created faith then why thank God? Further, why would we pray for an unbeliever’s faith if we did not believe God to work in regeneration prior to the unbeliever’s repentance. It is horribly inconsistent to fight so hard for Free-will and then all of a sudden turn around and pray that God would give your mother faith. In the end which is more important that the almighty free-will is not encroached upon or that your mother is saved? What God would you rather serve, a deity that stays at a distance so as not to disrupt free-will, throwing the flotation devise but waiting for you to swim to it or a God that performs CPR on your dead soul, who is responsible for your salvation from beginning to end? Which God deserves more Glory? Which God is more powerful? Forget all those questions and ask yourself the only important one, which God is described in the bible?

9. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. As I said earlier, Jesus is techniquley the Jewish Messiah. Romans 11 is a beautiful commentary as to how we gentiles, out of love, have been incorporated into God’s plan for the Redemption of True Israel.

10. "The righteous shall live by faith." It was Luther’s intense study of Romans, Galatians and in particular this verse that sparked the reformation. Luther, a monk in the Catholic Church in the 16th century was deeply troubled by this verse as he witnessed righteousness being promised not by faith but by pious acts, rituals and at its worst being sold. Luther’s intent was never to split the Church but to reform the church, to take the Church back to what it had been just a few years earlier. Luther, having studied church history and as a student of Saint Augustus came to realize that the bible (and Catholic Church up until the 15th century) promises righteousness as based on internal faith not on external action. A righteousness based on the finished work of Christ, not the continued “righteous” activity of the individual. The bible promises an imputed (external) righteousness (Christ’s) that through faith is gifted to the believer completely separate from good works. The bible further says that attempts to achieve salvation based on this self-righteousness is insulting to Christ and makes void his sacrifice (Galatians 2). Luther noticed the gross deviation of his Church from this concept that had occurred during his life; righteousness was not earned by Christ’s work on the Cross but sold at a cost. Righteousness in the catholic church of the 16th century was granted by endless rituals, long journeys to the holy land and at its worst actually sold. If the individual 16th century catholic was deemed righteous by these pious activities and did not need any further “indulgence” then they could always make a financial or action-based donation toward their dead relatives righteousness. Understand that there were many in the Church that also attempted to stop these abuses, these debates culminated in the Council of Trent where the opposition (not just from Luther) from within the Catholic Church was quenched and the doctrines that defined the 16th Century Church were institutionalized. There were then and continue to be amazing believers in the catholic church but this new 16th Century Catholic Church’s refusal to rely on the tenets of the Reformation (what had been the tenets of their own church) led to the split. Do not be deceived, it is the Church that changed not the reformers. As their name implies, the reformers tried to bring the Church back to the doctrine it was founded upon, Righteous based on Faith alone in Christ alone given by Grace alone for the Glory of God alone as described in the only authoritative text, the Bible.

11. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Here we see the concept of “General Revelation.” The world around us testifies to a creator. People have recognized the presence of a creator based on the world around them since the beginning. Modern man’s denial of a creator is in no way a more sophisticated or intellectual opinion than the caveman’s acceptance of a creator; in-fact, quite the contrary, it cry’s of the ignorance of modern man as to the true purpose of science. Science merely describes the world around us it has never created anything. The fact that we can now explain how things work through science in no way voids the need for a creator as we have never and will never, threw science uncover history. We may see how things mechanically work but we cannot understand what put them together, nor can we understand why they were put together. Far from contradicting each other, science and religion complement each other as each seeks to answer a completely different question. As we let the bible answer questions it address, let’s confine science to the questions it address, the mechanisms not the creation or the why’s.

12. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, It seems to me that people have lost their amazement for the general revelation as described above, instead they seem content to believe that somewhere there is some scientist standing in a long white coat that can explain the existence of a universe without the need for a God. As one who wears a long white coat and studies the human body let me be the first to say that we cannot explain even the most basic functions of the human body; a body that we can touch and experiment on let alone the mysteries of a vast universe that we have only scraped the surface of. There are molecules (not cells, molecules…strings of carbon) in your body that do more complex tasks than any human could dream of accomplishing. Tirelessly these molecules check each of the 3 billion different proteins created in the nucleus of a cell to ensure each of its thousand constituent amino acids is in exactly the right place so that the protein will function as intended, one mistake could cost not just the cell but your life. There is no human with a brain, hands, feet and a library of knowledge that could accomplish this task and are we so silly as to believe that science can apart from a God created the universe and bank our eternal life on it? Talk about futile.

13. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator You may be tempted to think only of the Golden Calf, but I feel that many people are worshiping a “God” and “Christ” that I submit are actually creatures and not the ultimate Creators. I went out to lunch recently with an interesting man that new a great deal of church history and on the surface said all the right things but under the surface denied the need for nearly all creeds. Therein is a huge problem, without creeds (definitions) my Christ and the true biblical Christ may be entirely different entities. I may worship with name “Christ” but if I mean Raingod, then I am worshiping an idol. Granted the difference is not generally this great, just an example. Many of us however, worship God as our teddy bear in the sky, a god that is all love and devoid of any of his other characteristics such as Justice, Holiness etc… I would again submit that far from worshiping the Biblical God they are worshiping an Idol god as their God does not approximate the God of the Bible. 22 On that day many will say to me (Christ), 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' Matt 7:22-23. This is why Creeds and Doctrine are essential, without them we have nothing to define the God that Rules, we have no common language or understanding and are at constant risk of worshiping an Idol.

14. ...men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. This begs, can a homosexual be a Christian...to which I would answer, Yes. With the reservation that a person that is actively participating in homosexuality (like any sin) without any remorse, without any felt need for repentance is not demonstrating the “fruit” that would say they are a Christian. Homosexual guys are some of the coolest and nicest that I know. Like me, they have sin in their life. By definition however, a Christian is no longer slave to such sin but desires righteousness. Thus, I would say that the sin in their life is no worse than the sin in my life and as long as we both desire true, godly repentance (not living in and loving sin) then there is hope for both of our souls. If, however, I am talking with a homosexual who feels no remorse and no need for repentance but gladly touts his life as ok and the bibles teachings as outdated, then I would have to assume him not to be a Christian. The beauty of the Gospel is that while we are all sinners, Christ’s blood is able to cover that sin, whatever it is. And, the Holy Spirit is promised to pull us out of our sin.

15. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. This speaks past “General Revelation” displayed to all by the creation, to a “Special Revelation” given through the Bible. Paul implies a deeper knowledge of the consequence of sin but a willing desire to continue unrepentantly in this sin. As above, the one who feels no remorse/repentance for whatever the sin is likely not a Christian.

Sun Tzu:

“Those who are near the army sell at high prices. Because of high prices, the wealth of the common people is exhausted.”

“Also because there are extraordinary levies, those with something to sell demand the highest prices they can get.”

Sun Tzu Thoughts:

Economics from the military stratigest! Sun Tzu describes something lost on the American people today, that businesses don’t pay taxes. Businesses simply pass the tax on to the consumer as increased price or go out of business these days with such a low profit margin. Thus, a tax cut for business is a tax cut for the people.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Instruments and Ensembles: Not including the human voice, there are five categories of musical instrument: 1) Strings (plucked or played with a bow), 2) Winds (played by blowing air), 3) Percussion (played with stick), 4) Keyboards, and 5) Electronic instruments

In 1750, the Baroque orchestra was established with a wind section, percussion, continuo (keyboard) and a string section. The Violin was the dominant voice of the baroque period.
With the advent of the Classical Period, the winds were increasingly used. Franz Joseph Haydn and Mozart are good examples.

In the 19th and 20th centuries composers such as Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg have written pieces for very large orchestras and incorporated instruments from popular culture such as saxophones, synthesizers and other electronic devices.

Matt 28

Date: 6 February 2009 D – 15 days

Events:

Yesterday I read, wrote and worked on securing the house for Marla. I put more secure locks on all entry doors and made a block for our bedroom door, the bad guys will have to literally tear the doors down to get into our bedroom! Plenty of time for Marla to put some Buck Shot into um :). Thanks for all the concern about Sadie, she is doing much better, check out the pictures back to her old playful self.

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 28

The Resurrection

28 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

The Report of the Guard

11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

The Great Commission

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."


Bible Thoughts:

1. Finally a shorter chapter!

2. “angel of the Lord descended… His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.” The New Testament mentions angels and demons more frequently than it does God/Christ’s love. The secularization of the Church has led to a people who do not believe in a spiritual realm. A people shocked and fearful of movies such as Max Payne, The Exorcist, Emily Rose, that depict spiritual warfare likely representing a far more realistic view of “The Real” (Matrix quote) than the world that we choose to see every day. Even as Christians, our default is to fall onto Science to explain the unexplainable. If I am unable to explain something, there must be someone in a long white coat that can. We daily write off miraculous occurrences to luck, chance, good fortune or karma. We are a people unable to believe in spiritual beings that we cannot touch or see, that have no mass but are who are great in effect. I challenge all who profess to hold the bible as the infallible word of God, to attribute less to secular ‘luck’ and more to a spiritual reality that while beyond our senses is no less reality. Oh, the insult the heavenly beings must feel when we attribute their work to luck, and these guys are not ones to mock. Oh, the cursing we must heap upon people by bidding them “good luck.” Praise God for his mercy to such ungrateful, miss guided creatures.

3. 6 “He is not here, for he has risen…” As Christ was raised from the dead so will we. Christ’s body though mutilated, cut and bleeding was raised beautiful and healed. In the death of our “imperfect” bodies we are “baptized” into Christ’s death that we will be raised as Christ in our “perfect” bodies. Christ’s resurrection reassures us that at death we will not become eternal spiritual beings (like the angles) without mass, we will not die and enter into an impersonal nirvana, nor will our death be our utter annihilation. Instead, at the end of the age we will again inherit physical bodies, walk physical streets and have fellowship with tangible brothers and sisters. This time though, as opposed to bodies born in sin and imperfect we will be born as Christ and Adam without sin and without sins systemic effect on our health, our relationships, or our new world. The following passages are the best biblical descriptions of our new body and our eternal heaven. Please take a moment to examine each passage as it constitutes the majority of what we know of our eternal resting place.

1 Cor 15:42-55

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body….50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

Rev 21:1-22:5

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son… 16 The city lies foursquare; its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel…each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations…22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Notice that the bible does not speak of our life in the clouds or earning our wings but of perfect, eternal physical bodies and a perfect, eternal physical city. This is a biblical view of heaven.

4. “…he is going before you to Galilee…” Jesus got his people out of Jerusalem prior to its utter destruction in 70 AD.

5. "Greetings!" ESV other translations… “Rejoice!” NKJ. Though I typically use the ESV translation in my writing, I included New King James translation “Rejoice” because..well, I like it more. I’m no scholar and I don’t know which English word better depicts the Greek word, “chaírete,” Jesus first words to his disciples but I like to think it was something a bit better than “greetings.” As defined by The New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006, “Chaírete” is a primary verb; to be "cheerful", i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation (on meeting or parting), be well… so “Rejoice” seems to fit right? Christ has just risen from the dead and in doing so ransomed billions of souls from the grips of eternal punishment ending death’s grip on humanity, thus I like “Rejoice.” Although The Matrix was an exciting movie with amazing special effects and a great twist, although Top Gun has inspired millions of young men to be fighter pilots, although Shakespeare’s timeless plays still bring tears to the eye, by far the greatest story ever told is the true story of Christ’s perfect life, tragic death and triumphant resurrection. Christ’s defeat of death, his defeat of sin, his defeat of Satan, and his victory over the souls that hung him on the cross, indeed his victory over my soul. This is the most exciting, redeeming, and triumphant story ever told with the greatest surprise ending that anyone could ever imagine. As my parents can attest, I have no use for a minister who when handed the most exciting story ever told decides on Easter to instead preach about Christ’s resurrection as merely a symbolic representation of the positive changes that we could decide to make in our life on Monday. Please forget life application for 1 day and tell history’s greatest story. If people leave the church because they want less Christ and more life application, show them the door, in fact, pick them up and throw them out. They do not belong. “Open hearts and open minds,” right? Phooey, I vote for tough love any day.

6. "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” It is sad that the unbelieving world no longer even has to bring up this lie, as most “believers” in the American Church today don’t believe in the resurrection. The bible, as just a story book with helpful life lessons, can’t mean that Jesus literally raised from the dead, can it? Come on, there are lots of other controversial topics in the bible that we don’t bring up (all the un-PC stuff “against” women) why can’t we just ignore the resurrection too? Besides, we all know it’s scientifically impossible and makes Christians look dumb for believing in such a unlikely miracle, does it not? Well, I guess, if this is how you treat the gospel, then you better hope Christ’s body was stolen. I guess you had better hope, with the culture, that there is no bodily resurrection and that at the end of your life, you move with the rest of modern culture into a land of eternal Ice Cream and clouds or perhaps just join the atheists in annihilation. I guess we can all continue to sing with lukewarm voices during the Easter service, treating Easter as a time of symbolic “new beginnings” as opposed our Lords triumph over death and salvation of the world. No, if Christ is not raised from the dead, there are far better things we should do on Easter morning (in fact, every Sunday morning). What can we really learn from this liar, Christ? Why would we worship a lunatic who preached his own resurrection on so many occasions? With Paul, I affirm, “17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 1 Cor 15:17-19. Christ’s only credibility is in the fact that his body has never been found. His miraculous stories can be written off as just that, stories; we have no lasting proof. His “great teachings…” not so great if he claimed to be God and was not. This Easter, let’s not continue to sing as lukewarm “believers” who have bought the cultures lie of the impossibility of the resurrection, let’s instead sing of the most amazing story ever told, sing so loud and hard the unbelieving world has no choice but to rehash its lies about what actually happened to Jesus’ body.

7. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” After Christ’s humiliation (life and death) came his exaltation. Christ now sits at the right hand of God and rules both heaven and earth. Failure to submit to his Lordship in no way voids it’s truth. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, “At the House of Prayer, Jesus is Lord.” I later approached the member and explained (nicely) how stupid the bumper sticker was as Christ is Lord of all heaven and earth not just his church and not just because they ‘choose’ to submit; how egocentric are we to feel that we somehow ‘allow’ Christ’s lordship. We can no more ‘allow’ Christ’s lordship than we can allow the dawn to break. Christ, the redeemer of earth has been given His rightful reign over the earth. The good news is that Christ rules the earth in love, grace and mercy. The mercies may not always be obvious as such mercies sometimes take the form of loss, inconvenience, changed plans, illness, close calls even physical death but when we are kingdom minded and remember that Christ at all times desires our “good” (growth in love and trust), then we can then see Christ’s goodness and praise God that He governs my life and I do not.

8. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, In interpreting the bible, when we come across the word “therefore” we must ask the question, what’s the ‘therefore’ there for? (John Dansby taught me that). In this instance, it clearly modifies Jesus prior statement…"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This begs the question, if all authority (other translations use sovereignty) belongs to Christ, does he need our help? Further, if he doesn’t need our help (the last question should have been easy) why does he enlist our help? And, how should we evangelize in light of Christ’s sovereign authority? While we indeed evangelize for our neighbor’s salvation, our neighbor’s spiritual conversion cannot be our ultimate goal. If it were, we would have forgotten our first love and greatest commandment, “love the Lord, your God with all of your heart, mind, body and strength” and superimposed our neighbor as an idol confusing the second greatest commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself” with the first. No, we evangelize not for the glory of our neighbor, but for the glory of God. We evangelize that there be one more voice beside us singing praise to our God in heaven. So, if the Glory of God is the reason for evangelism (not the glory of man), then how is God glorified in his ultimate, sovereign authority over those who believe or deny the Gospel. Simple, if it was my convincing argument, my persuasive speech, my incredible relationship with my neighbor that ultimately lead to his conversion (or lack of conversion) then I would steal the glory for my neighbors salvation from God, as my neighbor would not be in heaven praising God were it not for my intervention, my skill, my work. Likewise, if my neighbor were not converted perhaps due to my lack of biblical knowledge or lack of effort then I would stand rightly condemned as allowing my neighbors eternal punishment in hell. This is not a thought I could easily bear. The brilliant news is that Christ has “all authority” that, while I am responsible for sharing the Gospel, I am not accountable for my neighbor’s response. I will not be praised for the effect only the effort, likewise, I will not be judged by the effect only the lack of effort. The question frequently asked the Calvinist’s then is, why evangelize? The answer, again, is simple, because Christ commands it; how can we help but to tell history’s greatest story? “18 So they (the Jews) called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot help but speak of what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:18-21. Make no mistake, the victory has been won, the General does not need my help; but, oh, to be a private in such a great army! It is as if Patton himself approached, clad you in mighty armor assuring your safety and asked you to march with his Armies in their final victorious blow to Hitler and resultant liberation of those suffering in concentration camps. Would the mission be accomplished without me, yes…but who would ever say “no”??? Far greater than our victory in WWII is Christ’s victory on Calvary over the sting of death, how could we ever say no? How can we not lead the charge for the souls of man? The victory is certain and battle won! Evangelism flows from our love of Christ not our love of man. Thus, my goal is not man’s salvation but telling of Christ’s victorious story to “all nations,” that they may know it, whether they believe it or not. In this the Calvinist has even greater reason to evangelize because far greater is Christ’s victory on Calvary as he has saved (from beginning to end) not only my neighbor but also myself. If victory was not won on the Cross but won every day in evangelism what did Christ accomplish? Effectively nothing, the accomplishment was then only theoretical until enacted by human will/effort in evangelism and free choice. This is not a Biblical view of God, Christ or Calvary. The God of the Bible is victorious, Christ’s is sovereign and Calvary effective (beginning to end).

9. I guess the short chapter thing just let me devote more time to a fewer verses.


Sun Tzu:

“When a country is impoverished by military operations, it is because of transporting supplies to a distant place. Transport supplies to a distant place, and the populace will be impoverished.”

“When seven hundred thousand families have to support an army of one hundred thousand on a distant expedition, the common peoples cannot avoid impoverishment.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Black holes result when a massive star dies out. The dying star collapses into itself, becoming smaller and smaller, denser and denser, until it compresses into a single point with no radius and infinite density. The point, called a singularity, is so dense that nearby light cannot escape its gravitational pull. Escape speed is the speed that an object must reach to escape the gravitational pull of an object. The Escape speed of Earth is 11.2 Km/sec (25,950 mph or 7 miles/sec) and Jupiter’s is 59Km/sec, while by definition the Escape speed of a Black Hole is the Speed of light (thus the blackness) 300,000,000 m/sec (670,000,000 miles/hour or 186,000 miles/sec). So for a space shuttle to make it into space from earth it must exceed 25,000 mph, otherwise it will fall back to earth. The Event Horizon is the boundary surrounding the singularity (black hole) where the escape speed equals the speed of light. Anything that falls into the Event Horizon gets sucked into the center. Interesting as the object moves toward the Event horizon it would appear to the outside observer to be moving slower and slower as the immense gravity slows the light exiting the Black Hole. Once the object crosses the Event horizon however, it will disappear as all light is directed towards the singularity. Of course, this is all theoretical. We can’t actually see a black hole because they don’t allow anything (even light) to escape. We know of their existence only because other objects in space interact with their mass. A large number of stars orbiting a black center indicates the likelihood of a black hole. Also, as light (that has not crossed the event horizon) is bent, the black hole theory has also accounted for the fact that when we look upon the night sky many of the stars (as seen through a telescope) are duplicates.

Matt 27

Date: 5 February 2009 D - 16

Events:

3 Feb: I woke up, read, wrote then worked out at Lifetime. Marla came home early and we took Sadie to the Vet. After Sadie’s episode this weekend when she could not stand up on her own for a night we have been very worried about her hips. She has gradually gotten better and was even able to play yesterday before our appointment. At the appointment, we choose to sedate her to get the best films (very sad…Marla cried). I called Sadie over for the shot and could tell it took every ounce of obedience in her to come as she hopped over, one jump closer, one jump away crying as she came. I’ll never again call her to me to receive a painful exam/procedure, learned my lesson; it was heartbreaking. The sedation went well; while she was out we got a blood sample, trimmed her nails and shot the X-rays. The X-rays showed the beginnings of hip dysplasia/arthritis. Her hips do not look too bad yet so I think we may be dealing with a more acute muscle or joint injury this week but the diagnosis is none the less troubling. Sadie and I have had a great 2 years running together and playing Frisbee a couple times a day, it breaks my heart that we’re going to have to take it easier and she may not be able to come on runs/plays like she used to. Last night Sadie looked very sad. It took her a long time to fully wake up from the anesthesia and in her sleepy eyes, Marla and I feared that we saw a new distrust after we subjected her to such a difficult day. This morning, after a good night sleep, the dejected look is gone and my girl looks happy again. Marla and I watched The Happening last with Mark Walburg; I’ll give it a pretty good. The acting and characters were great but the concept was a bit green-peace, take it back, a lot green-peace.

4 Feb: I woke up read, wrote then received an interesting phone call. At 0930 I got a call from the Command that our flight had been bumped up to 8 Feb (this Sunday). Scared to tell Marla over the phone, I decided to wait, but started packing up, somewhat frantically, as there is still a lot that needs done before I leave. At 1030 I got a second phone call and was informed that our plane had again been changed to 21 Feb. Although I will now be home for Valentine’s Day, I have to admit a bit of disappointment. After the initial shock of flying out on Sunday had passed, I was excited to finally get going. It feels like I’ve been in perpetual holding pattern for 6 months now. I’m not too busy at work, not too busy at home, unable to make any long term plans, and unable to practice emergency medicine. I am excited to finally do my wartime mission and get home. I’ve moved out of my office, my dog is injured (unable to exercise) and it seems like all I do is write, study and watch movies around here; not really why I got into medicine or the military. There is no longer any challenge or excitement to my life as I am now unable to work and unable to make any extended plans; I’m ready for a change. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for my time here with Marla & Sadie but this process of preparing to leave then not leaving has become so painful that we will all breathe a sigh of relief once I’m on that plane. After the drama, I got the car worked on so that it will be safe for Marla, bought Sadie a ramp so she can get in and out of the truck and worked on a door stop so Marla can feel safer at night while I’m gone. We watched Hancock last night and I would highly recommend it, funny and redeeming.

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 27

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

27 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself

3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? See to it yourself." 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me."

Jesus Before Pilate

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You have said so." 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?" 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream." 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." 22 Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!" 23 And he said, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!"

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." 25 And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, "This man is calling Elijah." 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Jesus Is Buried

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.' 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Bible Thoughts:

1. Pilate Only Pilate, as a Roman Ruler, had the jurisdiction to institute capital punishment as Israel was under Roman control.

2. 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Christ willingly chose the cross. In a worldly sense, he did not defend himself against the false accusations of the Priests and People. In a heavenly sense, Christ, if he chose to, could have walked untouched through the crowd as he had done in the past when it “was not his time”, he could have called down 12 Legions of Angles to his defense, as mentioned last chapter, or simply stepped off the cross thereby forever condemning the world that crucified him to live and die in their sins. Christ, however, chose the cross. He chose to rescue those who spit on and scourged him. He chose to rescue those who falsely accused him and denied his deity. He chose to open the gates of heaven to miserable sinning failures like myself.

3. "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." Barabbas was a mass murderer.

4. 24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." 25 And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" This is the part in all Passion shows (plays depicting the crucifixion of Christ) when the writers are charged with anti-Semitism. Two points, 1) The accurate depiction of a historic reality (this quote) says nothing of a writers political/social/religious views. 2) Most importantly, if we approached the accusation of anti-Semitism appropriately, it is a wonderful gospel presentation. Although the Jewish people were responsible for Christ’s crucifixion in effect, they were merely acting according to the will of God and the will of Christ. Far be it for a human to be accused of overpowering Christ, far be it for a people to be accused of overpowering the plans of God. No, the responsibility for the crucifixion was not of the Jews but of the Father. Luke speaks of the crucifixion in Acts, “27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place”. Acts 4:27-29. It was the plan of God and the will of Christ to be punished for our sin. The very lashes given by man, rescued man. The Jews are no more responsible for the lashes than I, no more responsible for the suffering than I, no more responsible for the ridicule than I. It was not the sin of the Jews false testimony, not their lies and not their release of Barabbas that hung Jesus on the cross but the collective sin’s of all humanity. Far from sitting in condemnation over the Jewish people for the crucifixion, we should sit in humble awe at the mighty hand of the Lord in action. The Jewish sin in Christ’s crucifixion was real and they are responsible for such sin, but no more real is the sin that I daily commit and no less responsible for the cross am I. In fact, as one for whom Christ died (a believer), I am more responsible. As I sin in my daily life, I mock Christ’s sacrifice and lent that much greater punishment paid on the cross.

5. 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe …32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. As an immature believer, I identified with Simon saying to myself, ‘if I were there, I would have carried Christ’s cross, stopped the lashes, offered him water as he suffered on the cross…’ As I have matured, as Paul says, ‘I see a different power at work in my body.’ And later, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Rom 7:15-16. When I look at my daily life, far from helping Christ carry his cross, I stand as the one delivering the lashes. In the final analysis of my daily life, I have done far more injustice to Christ than Justice. Sadly, I am far more a Roman Soldier than a Simon of Cyrene. And, this is how it should be. As we mature, we begin to understand the enormity of the chasm between our sin and Christ’s goodness. As we grow in appreciation of that separation, our love for the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross explodes. When we realize our depravity, when we acknowledge that far from carrying Christ’s cross we daily crown him with thorns, our love flourishes but when we deceive ourselves into proudly believing that we are a Simon, our love and appreciation of the cross of stifled, “he who is forgiven little, loves little" Luke 7:47.

6. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Despite Christ’s intense physical suffering, the payment due our sins was not complete until God laid all sin on his Child’s shoulders and was forced to turn his back. Jesus, born without the sin of Adam (Immaculate Conception), and living his entire life without sin, had enjoyed a perfect relationship with his Father. However, at the Cross, Christ became the most sinful being ever created, more sinful than the worst serial killer, more sinful than Satan himself as upon him were laid every sin ever committed. Christ no longer addresses his Father informally as Father, but formally as God as he occupies the seat of the condemned receives the punishment required by the law from the ultimate Judge. The suffering of the Trinity (to be sure, it was not only Christ who suffered) was great this day, without my own child, I cannot imagine condemning and punishing my child by my own hand for trespass committed by others. But the Trinities love for me prevailed, Christ stayed his course, the Father stayed his course and in the end amidst the blood and cry’s was my redeemed soul. To deny the Trinity’s suffering, to deny the Trinity’s finished work is to slap father God in the face. Those who do will not be pardoned. Far from shedding tears for their souls, we should shed tears for the mockery they have made of the cross.

7. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Top to bottom, so it was clear that it was not torn by man. The Temple curtain separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. It was in the Holy of Holies that God’s presence rested. Only once a year, and only covered in blood was 1 man (the high priest) able to enter the Holy of Holies to make an animal sacrifice and atone for his peoples sins of the past year. By tearing the curtain Christ’s death declared annual animal sacrifice(Yom Kippur) no longer necessary as He shed His perfect blood once and for all (Hebrews 9-11). In addition, the separation of a holy God from a sinful laity was forever discarded as we can now personally pray to the Father (but only in Christ’s name, Jn 14:13, 15:16, 16:23,26), and ultimately approach the Judgment throne with confidence as the sentence due our sins has been paid (Heb 4).

8. ' 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can." If there is anything Roman Soldiers (any soldiers for that matter) are good at, it is killing and guarding. Let there be no doubt, Jesus was killed and the tomb that he escaped was secure. If this seems too amazing for our modern minds, consider the 100’s of eyewitnesses, many of whom were executed for their testimony of the risen Christ. Few, if any, are willing to die for a lie. Our promise as Christians hinges on Christ’s bodily resurrection. As Christ triumphed over death, so will we. This is why thousands throughout the ages have been willing to die for their faith; in Christ’s resurrection is our own.

Sun Tzu:

“Those who use the military skillfully do not raise troops twice and do not provide food three times.”
“This mean you draft people into service once and then immediately seize victory—you do not go back to your country a second time to raise more troops. At first you provide food, after that you feed off your enemy; and then when your soldiers return to your country, you do not greet them with yet more free food.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Hagia Sophia “church of the Holy Wisdom “was built as a Christian cathedral in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) between 532-537 AD by Emperor Jusinian as his personal church. This Byzantine ruler claimed that he has surpassed Solomon, the Old Testament King. Mathematicians rather than architects designed the masterpiece which rises 180 feet and is supported by four triangular sections that distribute the weight evenly giving the illusion of weightlessness, as if floating above the worshippers below. In 1453 Hagia Sophia was captured by the Ottoman Turks and turned into a mosque, the mosaics were plastered over and decorations were taken out. In 1936 the building was secularized and converted into the Ayasofia Museum.

Matt 26

Date: 3 February 2009 D - 9 days

Events:

This two for 1’s becoming a habit :(.

1 February: Matt left this morning to go to church at Austin Stone, we said what may be our final goodbye’s and went to our Church. Our service at Redeemer was outstanding from the music to the sermon about the hope that is found in the classic benediction, “ 24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. After Church, I read and wrote while Marla took a nap, then we went to a Yoga class (see pic’s) and a super bowl party at our neighbors. We have some great neighbors here and I have very happy that Marla will be here throughout my deployment. I was rooting for the stealers and they pulled out a very exciting victory in the last few minutes.

2 February: We woke up early and Marla and I drove up to Fort Hood to take care of some final pre-deployment business. Marla got a new Military ID, I completed some paperwork, got my deployment orders and perscirbed myself some meds for my Aid Bag. We moved out of my office (included some pics) and went to a going away lunch for the 4 captains that are leaving next week. At the lunch we all got an award for the time we served in the Rear Detachment and I received an update on our deployment. The flight for 11 Feb has been canceled (no real surprise) so it looks like we will be taking a civilian flight out of DFW around the same date. This is actually a very good thing because I was dreading the formal military ceremony that accompanies the military flight. Instead of going out with a big group, the plan now is for us four captains to take a van up to DFW and fly out on our own around 11 Feb, more to follow about specific times/dates. After accomplishing our tasks at Fort Hood drove home by way of Georgetown and looked at some new areas that we may move to over the summer/fall. Got home late to a puppy that is still sore but at least able to get up and around on her own. I am taking her to the vet today to get evaluated, I’m praying the films are normal and it’s just a pulled muscle. She has been so sad these last few days as I have not taken her out for any walks/plays.

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 26

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor." 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her."

Judas to Betray Jesus

14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?" 18 He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
20 When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, he said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, "Is it I, Lord?" 23 He answered, "He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." 25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, "Is it I, Rabbi?" He said to him, "You have said so."

Institution of the Lord's Supper

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial

30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." 33 Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." 34 Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." 35 Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go over there and pray." 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; seize him." 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you came to do." Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Jesus Before Caiaphas

57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.'" 62 And the high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" 63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." 64 Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?" They answered, "He deserves death." 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?"

Peter Denies Jesus

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." 72 And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you." 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.


Ps 26:3

For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

Bible Thoughts:

1. My first thought is…that was a really long chapter!

2. 2 "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." Passover is the chosen time for the institution of the sacrament of Communion and Christ’s Crucifixion. At the celebration of Passover, the Jewish people remember the final blow dealt to Egypt as Israel tried to escape Pharaoh’s slavery. A lamb was slaughtered by every Jewish family and the blood placed over the door. The Lord passed through Egypt and killed the first born man and animal in every household without the blood. The blood sign is not evidence of a deist God ignorant his chosen people, but a foreshadowing of Christ’s (the Lamb of God) blood that will ultimately quench the wrath of God for his people. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). The ability of the “flawed” lamb to turn God’s wrath at Passover was a prophesy to our “unflawed” Lamb’s (Christ) ability to save us from the wrath of God.

3. 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. Jesus is, of course, not denying the virtue of charity. There are too many other verses that support charity (“let scripture interpret scripture”). This is not a question of charity but priority. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” Matt 19:29-30. Truly, there is virtue in loving our family and serving the poor, if not what of the preceding statement, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” Matt 25:40? What Christ desires is correct priority. That we serve the poor not for our own gain, or even the gain of the poor, but the gain of the kingdom. That we serve the poor not for his/her eternal pleasure but that there be one more voice in heaven praising our Christ for eternity. This in no way diminishes the love that we are to have for our neighbor, on the contrary when we cloth them in the eternal salvation that comes from Christ’s accomplished mission, we exhibit far greater love than simply clothing them in whatever garment this perfume may have purchased. As in the military where the mission takes precedence over the individual, if we wish to be truly kingdom minded, we must place Christ’s eternal mission over the worldly comfort/likes/dislikes of the individual. Easy to say, hard to live.

4. "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." That no one may claim Christ’s inability to sustain his chosen people to the end (preservation of the saints), the gospels make it abundantly clear that the betrayal of Judas was not only foreseen but actually predestined. As the gospel of John recounts, during the Passover meal just before Jesus identifies Judas as the betrayer and sends him out to bring the authorities, Christ says, “18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.' 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.” John 13:18-19. Whether we look at this verse in the typical election way and say that Christ choose the 11 and left Judas without true faith and thus he followed his own evil desires for money over Christ, or the “double election” way so to say that Judas was predestined not to a saving faith but to betray Christ and to ultimate condemnation, the effect is the same, Judas became the Betrayer within the will of God, in order that scripture may be fulfilled. These are purely intellectual arguments, I just wanted to introduce the terms single election/double election, to me they are distinctions without a difference. The single election folks just try not to charge God with choosing those who will be condemned by only choosing and imparting faith to his chosen and (only by default) leaving the rest of the world to their own fallen will that will never seek/choose Christ. While the double election folks say that God chooses both to impart saving faith and to withhold saving faith. That’s all beside the point though; the point is that the Betrayal of Jesus was the will of God, that scripture may be fulfilled, that the Christ may experience the entire gamut of human emotion and suffering. That Christ’s ultimate victory over death may be the most exciting and greatest story ever told.

5. "Take, eat; this is my body." 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” Oh the mysteries of the sacraments! I will stick to what we know and touch on the controversies. We can see clearly that the Lords supper both in timing and in effect is replacing the Passover meal. As above, we have seen that the blood of the lamb at Passover as temporarily appeasing God’s wrath foreshadowed Christ’s blood as the permanent appeasement of God’s wrath. Thus, we no longer remember the lamb’s blood in Egypt (pretty cool) but Christ’s blood on Calvary (infinitely more cool). As the Passover meal served as a physical reminder of the Jews salvation from bondage to Egypt, the communion now serves as a physical reminder of the world’s bondage to death. Some (myself include) would leave is as a physical reminder. This physical reminder imparts grace as it is a tangible gospel that we can touch and taste as opposed to simply preached word, but ultimately it is the gospel that it rests upon and reminds us of that is given for the forgiveness of sins. It is obvious (to me anyway) from this passage that though Jesus says explicitly, “this is my body” that the elements (bread and wine) are still bread and wine. Fore, if the disciples freaked out over even the prospect of Christ’s death (Mt 16), how much more would they respond to actually putting His flesh and blood into their mouths. No, they seem to understand the sacrament as I understand it, as Christ has spoken in symbols and throughout his ministry, this is yet one more symbol but to this symbol is attached a ritual. The weekly bodily return to earth of Christ seems to contradict Acts, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. No, Jesus second coming will truly be his 2nd coming not his gigalionth (each communion has been celebrated). While this point does not deserve much discussion, the following point does. There are people that think that the forgiveness of sin is achieved through the physical consumption of the communion/mass. Live as a heathen all week long but go to church , eat the bread, drink the wine and you will be saved. This is a heresy; the bible in no instance refers to such works as meriting forgiveness. Again, it is the promise the sacrament rests upon that grants forgiveness. It is Christ’s true bodily suffering and death that appeases the wrath of God not any chewing or drinking that we may do. No, just as there is no physical act bad enough that is beyond the forgiveness of Christ’s blood, there is no physical act good enough that can earn forgiveness equivalent to Christ’s blood

6. "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." The cup is referring to the wrath of God. Christ is not afraid of his bodily suffering, instead, as the only one who lived without sin throughout his life and enjoyed a perfect relationship with God the father from eternity past, Christ was about to have the sin of the human race laid upon his shoulders, experiencing more sinfulness than any human or demon since the creation of the world and feel not only divine separation but the full fury of divine wrath as not even Satan will deserve to suffer. Christ does not shutter from the physical death the gospel required, but the spiritual death he would suffer as the Lord turned his back on his beloved son and punished every sin ever committed in his slow, utterly lonely death. Jesus would not be the Christ if he did not willingly go to the Cross, nor would he be the Christ if he happily took on sin and separation from the father. We see in this passage equal submission to the divine will and resistance to the imputed sin that enabled Jesus to be the Christ, the savior of the world.

7. "For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. ”Live by the sword, die by the sword…” I have strong emotions toward this verse as I prepare to enter a war zone. I have been forced to realize that by putting on my uniform, I am marking myself externally with the sign of the US Army. When I dawn the Army uniform, I take on everything the US Army represents, everything the US Army has done or failed to do. There will be those justly desire my blood as I am externally identified with soldiers who have killed their fathers, sons and brothers innocent or guilty. I am externally identified with a nation that has invaded, occupied and changed the homeland of a people who did not ask for such change. I understand the people’s resistance and can only imagine what I would do in a similar situation. If, for instance, China invaded and occupied America and set up a communist regime simply because they thought it was better for the occupied people. I would certainly rise up like many Iraqis and resist this foreign powers imposed government. I am not saying that I oppose the war, quite the contrary; I feel that the security of my family and the chance for a free Iraq is worth fighting for. I am, however, saying that I understand the Iraqis position, resistance and desire for retribution. I willingly put my life on the line in putting dawning my uniform and hold no Iraqi personally responsible for my death as I can never know or understand the life circumstance that has led him/her to such a hatred of the US Army. Perhaps one of our “smart bombs” killed his wife or child, perhaps he has been forced, against his will, to carry and shoot a gun for a religion that does not value human life or perhaps he has been so indoctrinated into terrorism that it is not even him pulling the trigger but the establishment that reared him. Whatever the reason, I do not hold the man personally responsible for my death. As I would hope he does not hold me. I will be caring for enemy wounded and families in the same way that I will care for American wounded but if forced to draw my weapon, I will shoot for the same reason that he will shoot. I will kill for the prospect of a world without terror, a free Iraq and for my fellow soldiers who have fought and fallen before me for such a hope. I hope that no soldier puts on their US Army Uniform flippantly but always with the recognition that we are called to kill and to die for a higher purpose. If we choose to live by the sword we must be prepared to die by it otherwise the mission will be lost.

8. " Then all the disciples left him and fled. Jesus came not only to live a perfect life (active obedience) meriting all of the blessing of heaven for us and die a perfect death (passive obedience), paying the penalty of the law due us but also to experience the full range of human emotion. From his sweet love for his mother and friends to his friends bitter betrayal and ultimately his separation from God. In his life, Christ gives us the reassurance that there is no path we will walk that he has not taken first. No pain that we may suffer that he has not suffered first. Thereby, “…we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. Heb 4:15-16. We can never accuse Christ as a teenager saying, “you just don’t understand.” He does understand, he understands more physical and emotional pain than we can ever imaging. Far from “a do as I do not as I say God”, we serve a God who has walked the walk.

9. "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." 64 Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." 65 Then the high priest tore his robes. The priest understood Christ’s claim to be God clearly. Truly, our Christ is a Liar, Lunatic or actually Lord. A prophet would not claim to be God, a teacher would not be so stupid as to confuse himself with God, and if either did, why would we listened to them? We would stone the prophet and shun the teacher. No, Christ is either to be followed a Lord or discounted as a lunatic, to be placed in the same category as David Koresh, but not honored as a “great man, prophet, teacher etc…”

10. " 35 Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same”. ..”Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. In his flesh, Peter, “the stone upon which I (Christ) built my church,” denies Christ. Why then does he not suffer the same condemnation as Judas? It is Christ who sustained Peter and chose to bring him back into the faith, look at the dialogue in Luke just before Simon Peter’s betrayal, “31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." 33 Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." 34 Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me." Luke 22:31-34. We see that, as Satan demanded Judas and was given him, he also demanded Peter and it was only the prayer of Christ that kept Peter and turned him “again.” The good that we do, even our faith, is not on our own accord, but the intervention and divine gift of God.

11. Psalms: I just get a kick out of the word “lovingkindness.” It is true, remember Romans 8, “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Rom 8:31-36 In light of God’s lovingkindness what are we to fear? We are children of the king and he has promised to care for us in his lovingkindness, thus we walk confidently forward in this truth. (just trying to use lovingkindness as much as possible)

Sun Tzu:

“Therefore, those who are not thoroughly aware of the disadvantages in the use of arms cannot be thoroughly aware of the advantages in the use of arms”
“If you do not first think about the calamities of danger and destruction, you will not be able to reap any advantage.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Homer is credited with authorship of two famous Greek epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer’s actual role in their creation is uncertain. They are thought to have been created around 800 BC in Ionia (present day turkey) and memorized in their entirety by story tellers and retold for centuries before being transcribed. The Iliad tells of the exploits of Achilles, Agamemnon, Hector and other hero’s during the Trojan War between Achaea (Greece) and Troy. According to myth, the war began when the Trojan prince Paris kidnapped Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful woman in the world. The Iliad’s sequel, the Odyssey, recounts the trails of the Greek Hero Odysseus as the attempts to sail home from the Trojan War to rejoin his wife, Penelope. The journey take ten years because he angers the sea god, Poseidon.