Love...

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident." -Captain Corelli's Mandolin

The above is a quote from a Novel that takes place during World War II. It is hardly as good a book as this is a quote. It is spoken by a character in the book known as Dr. Iannis. He a meager philosopher and ever worse theologian, but his quote here speaks wonders to the truth of exactly what Love is.

Today love is used to express a fascination for everything from pickles, to a husband, to Sexual intercourse (ie making love). It would be unfair to limit this truth to simply our country, language, or even era. Greek Poetry from the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries BC failed to categorize the usage of the words (they had 4 words...debatebly more) for love with any firm boundaries that made clear when and where each term for love was to be used. They are not the only ones either, in truth the human expression regardless of time period is prone to speak in a superfluous manner (we are humans and we exaggerate). Even the bible fails to truly separate quite as concretely as we would like, and sometimes the Apostles use one word for God and love and sometime another. (Point being the idea that 'agape' is a word that is reserved for God's love for us, or our love for him, and that alone is well... not biblical.)

But i think nonetheless it is necessary that we explain and define love; and allow the boundaries that we can establish distinguish it from the 'false loves' that so many things that are better to be known as 'patior' or the greek word for 'passion'. (I think it is better to address what 'love' is, rather than spend an infinite amount of time addressing the limitless things it is not).

Love is a transcendent expression and faculty, it is in some ways unexplainable, but in every way undeniable. It is the sole force within the universe that history affirms has been present in every civilized state on record. It is the driving force behind a million actions that do not always service the individual good and ease of him who is performing the verbal action in their 'loving' of another. It is the most pure form of goodness, and beauty in all the universe. It contains within it both the power to create and destroy. It is unlike anything else in all the world. It turns night to day, winter to spring, dark to light, tedious labor to effortless service, burden to blessing, slavery to liberty, pain to pleasure, it is the driving force of ALL there is.

It is not sex, it is not passion, it is, what Dr. Iannis said rightly, 'would be left if all else could burn away', it is not mercy though this is certainly Love child. Love is patient, it is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it does not delight in evil but rejoices when right it done to all. It always protects even at the price of its own life, always believe even when things look hopeless, always hopes for Peace and goodness, always perseveres even the fiercest storm.

GODisLOVE : He is the Truest and most sincere expression of Love we have. On our souls we have imprinted an ability to love. But True love is not found in the Ancient Aphrodite. If you remember Greek mythology, she was the greek goddess of love and Romance. At her height the goddess (or perhaps the demon) 'aphrodite' demands full obedience from her worshippers. But this demand is a hollow one, and though in this so called 'love' she demands her worshipper to sacrifice their all for their 'lover' (husband, wife, girlfriend, or boyfriend). This is a futile demand and is really but an imprint within in crying out that we were meant to love something with all we are. In a way that Science could never explain by observation, and words could hardly capture in writing. Romance is by no means wrong, it is beautiful and created by and for God. But Erotica is not Love, Eros is not Agape, and Aphrodite is not Immanuel.

We have only but a taste of how vast his love is, God is LOVE. Aphrodite is a whore, and her demands from a broken world to be infatuated with one another and to look at Sex and rather than their Savior,will soon be repaid with eternal and indescribable punishment. All we need is LOVE

Free Will

I recently sat down with a friend who believe neither in Jesus as the Son of God, nor in the God of any sort of non-eastern deity. He posed the following dilemma:

"If God is good, and knows all things, why would he create Satan with the free will that would allow him to Turn against Him. If God knew Satan would do evil, then he must be in some way evil."

I responded with the following:

"What you are suggesting is that God should have made Satan not free, but a slave or servant to God. He should have essentially made some sort of robotic creation that would serve him and be obedient without fail, right?"

He then said "yeh, exactly".

And this was my response, "What you are suggesting is that it is much better to be a slave who has no capacity to act on its own, no ability to love, no ability to do any thing outside of its being directly in line with serving its creator." (sidenote: this is the way I believe Heaven will be, but we will no longer have any desire to rebel, only to serve.)

I then asked him "Have you ever been to a homeless shelter?";

"yes" he replied.

"Well in that homeless shelter have you ever seen an African American man?";

"of course" he then replied.

I then said "What you are suggesting is that the American government is in fact evil for giving freedom to 'African Americans', because it landed some of them in worse circumstances. Previously they had a warm bed, a Job, 3 meals, a day, and a home. Now there freedom has landed them without any of these. The American government should have kept them as slaves for their own good and not only that those who fought for slavery are evil people. We should make all the poor slaves."

He expressed a peculiar sense of Satisfaction at the answer, and quickly we segwayed into the "Pat Robertson dilemma"... Freedom

God forgive us today, we distort you, your world, and your name. Forgive us...

Time...

It is 6 o’clock on the evening of the 3^rd day of the New Calendar year, 2010 years from the estimated birth of Jesus Christ, God with us. Time is my subject here and the reason for my elaborate expression of the date and Time.

It is often said that God preexisted time, I feel as though the teaching around this is true. But I also feel that such a quality must be explained further than it often is. Science measures time and “elapse time since” also known has “age” based on the amount of decay that has taken place in atomic particles, this generally occurs at a precise and exponentially increasing rate. This process is known as “Carbon Dating”. By measuring the stage of the Carbon and comparing it science is able to determine age. Thus time is inextricably linked to decay.

However, the original intent of the universe was not one bent towards decay. But it is no surprise that the world we live in is one where decay and death are undeniable realities. And so according to the scientific explanation and recording of “Time”, Adam, Eve, and the entire Garden existed before there was “Time”. As they all existed in a state that had no decay. Science is insufficient to explain or define a proper understanding of time, as we know it.

Time, age, and any term within the realm of dating are simply made up terms that we designate to help us distinguish from one moment to the next. They are like the address on your house, or more accurately the page numbers we attribute to a book we have not written. They may not have any influence from the author of the book, but they allow the “reader” to identify more precisely where he is in the story. It would then help us to take a more philosophical and transcendent definition to the label of “time”. As not so much a measurement of age, but rather a chronological succession of moments. In our current existence decay is related directly to time, however in the paradise lost and in the one to come this will not be the case. Time will no longer be needed, decay no longer existent (save for within the bounds of hell, however this “decay” will as well no longer be related to time, as for all of eternity there will be eternal decay but not disappearance) and we will simply be left with a wondrous chronology of successive moments that pass by in a fleeting ecstasy, but they will flee to nowhere. So as the proverbial saying goes “time flies when you are having fun” heaven will likely a simultaneous passing of rapidly blissful moments as well as deliciously savored experiences treasured for all that they are.

So, it is an accurate statement to suggest that God preexisted time or our present definition of decay, but so did Adam. But he certainly did exist in time prior to our decay in another sense. My point being that if God has always existed he has enjoyed a chronological succession of events prior to the creation of our universe. By definition to exist would indicate you are at one moment “existing” and have “existed” prior, thus there were moments in between that took place to bring about the current state. So God has always existed but by this definition so has time, but he also exists beyond time, as he is not limited in his knowledge of anything past, present, or future, but that would deal more with his omniscience, nor is he limited in his ability to alter, change, or affect time, which would deal with his omnipotence. He is by his nature inside and outside of this chronology in everyway and thus he is beyond time and yet within it is everyway… He truly is the great “I AM that I AM”…

He is both Good and Great

Common questions for those within the Church and those outside of it often revolve around the problem of evil. Below is a look at one of many...

If Satan at some point rebelled against God and this is the most "original Sin" that we know of, then why did God allow him to live? He could have squashed him and destroyed both he and sin. Why would he allow Satan to "deceive the Nations", instead of simply ending him right in that moment. Doing away with all evil.

The question is oddly enough a doubt that Satan might even use himself to attack and accuse the character of God, just like he did with Eve in the Garden. "Why would God allow such a thing? Could he really be all powerful and all good if he did not crush this act of Rebellion?"

The answer is Yes. Satan along with all of the Hosts of heaven (angels) lived in the very presence of God and his magnificence. However, these being are not all knowing, they are created and thus have room within them for experience and understanding (knowing something by watching and observing). 1 Peter speaks on this when he tells us that the unfolding of history and God's restoration of all creation is something "on which angels long to look". Thus Angels are capable of knowing God and seeing him work, by virtue of the fact that they exist, are able to be amazed, and they are not all knowing.

So when Satan rebelled, God could have crushed this rebellion under him with one fatal sweep. In doing this he would have answered, beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is Great. He is powerful, and not one to rebel against. Thus he would have answered the question "Is he Great?" But one question would have remained..."Is he Good?" Had he done this, it would not have been as clear. He could have appeared as a ruler who is one to be feared, but perhaps not loved.

But not only is he Great, he is Good. He did not crush Satan in that moment and put Sin to death. He came to the earth he created and was put to death for sin. In this magnificent act, he answered once and for all not only am I great, I am good. One day he will powerfully remove the presence of Sin from all who love him. But for those who choose to worship themselves, rather than God (just like Satan did, and we all do, apart from Christ working in us), he will honor their decision for ALL of Eternity in eternal suffering. All people and angels will one day bow before him, and all of us, will know by experience not only is he GREAT, but HE is GOOD...

God you are good...

There's no chocolate in Heaven?

"The letter and spirit of Scripture, and of all Christianity, forbid us to suppose that life in the New Creation will be a sexual life; and this reduces our imagination to the withering alternative either of bodies which are hardly recognizable as human bodies at all or else of a perpetual fast. As regards the fast, I think our present outlook might be like that of a small boy who, on being told that the sexual act was the highest bodily pleasure, should immediately ask whether you ate chocolates at the same time. On receiving the answer no, he might regard absence of chocolates as the chief characteristic of sexuality. In vain would you tell him that the reason why lovers in their carnal raptures don't bother about chocolates is that they have something better to think of. The boy knows chocolate: he does not know the positive thing that excludes it. We are in the same position. We know the sexual life; we do not know, except in glimpses, the other thing which, in Heaven, will leave no room for it."-C.S. Lewis "Miracles"...

The highest pleasure we currently can imagine is not even worth comparing to the incomprehensible Pleasure, Joy, Peace, Life that "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined,". And oh to taste, to know much more than a page, to feel your embrace...

Prayer with thanksgiving...

Matthew Henry is a well-known bible commentator who lived during the 17th century in England. He one day was robbed and that evening made the following Entry in his diary:

"Let me be thankful- First because I was never robbed before; second because although they took my wallet they did not take my life; third because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed." - Matthew Henry

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding with guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

-The scriptures would tell us that when we pray, we are to have an understanding that we own nothing, are entitled to nothing, and ourselves own nothing. All we have, even our own lives are a gift from God and are to be counted as such. So when we pray, we do it knowing that everything we have is a gift. God rightfully sits over all of life and so we pray knowing that, thus we are thankful for what we have, seeing everything... EVERY THING as a gift. Every day, every good experience, every single thing is not ours but God's. So we pray knowing that we are not entitled to anything, and we brought nothing into this world and will take nothing away from it. He is good and in control, and we trust this. Nothing is ours and we are to remember this... Even as we pray. So we trust his goodness and his sovereignty that he is in control and working together all things for his glory and our good... Oh to pray the way that Matthew Henry did...

"In my distress I cried to him, and he answered me."-Psalm 120:1

Distress, brokenness, death, sickness, pain, sin, our world is filled with them. All around us we see clearly that creation that has fallen under sin. It is no secret or debate that things in this life are not perfect. Man whether he believes in God or not rarely deny this. In fact, the problem of “evil” or “sin” is often present as one of the primary arguments against the existence of the "all loving, and all powerful God" the bible portrays. However, C.S. Lewis brilliantly defends that the very fact that mankind has moral understanding inside of them that declares things are not as they should be, is more of an argument for the existence of a bestower of this “sense of morality” rather than for his nonexistence. More simply, the fact that mankind perceives that there is something wrong in the world, demonstrates that some thing at some point implanted a sense of right and wrong within us. The bible tells us that this come from man being made in the "image of God" (Gen 1:26-27), and because of this "the work of the law is written on our hearts"(Romans 2:15). But God doesn't leave us with just a understanding of the “death” around us, but provides us a “way” into “life”, Through the the death of his son, Jesus, who is called both"the way" and "the life" (John:14:6). It further says that Jesus is currently reconciling all things to himself(Col 1:20); and some day he who rode into Jerusalem atop a donkey who was "put to death for sin", will come again this time riding on a "white horse" and will "put all sin to death"(Rev. 19:11). So God has “answered us in our distress”, his answer was the death of his Son. God has made "him who knew no sin, be sin so that, we might become the righteousness of God." (2Cor. 5:21). He did not answer the cries of his son to "take this cup from him" (Luke 22:42), or his cries "My God my God why have you abandoned me?”(Psalm 22), so that he may answer our need for a savior. He has heard our cries…