Peregrinations

Depravity

kristofaros — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:19:57 +0000

The first point – total depravity. Now, Calvinist or not, an understanding of the human condition as completely and utterly withoutany righteousness in it becomes clear the moment you sit in an audience at a movie theatre and realize what people find funny. I saw a preview for the new Sacha Baron Cohen film…I paid so little attention to it that I’ve forgotten the title already…just the other night. there’s nothing like looking at the state of comedy to make you realize that people find morally reprehensible characters among the most amusing of all. Perhaps it’s the innate human sense of pride – I am better than this – that causes us to laugh at those things which, as Christians, we understand are damning. But then, we oh so conveniently forget things like Isaiah 58:1-2, which declares unequivocally “Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgement of their God”. And lest I get prideful myself, claiming to take the moral high ground above others, I have the reminders in Romans 3: 10-12, or in Psalms 14: 2-3 and 53: 1-3 that I’m under the same thing. Those verses read simply this: “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” Yes, my fellow, utterly lost brothers and sisters. Not one is righteous. No one does good, not even one. That’s why we need to get down on our knees and thank God for Jesus Christ, who was the only truly righteous man. We have to thank the Lord that he loved us enough to allow Christ’s righteousness to supplant our own, because we can’t do a damn thing without Him. Let me rephrase that – we can do a whole lot of damn(ing) things without Him.

Lessons from Sophie

kristofaros — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:14:40 +0000

There’s a cat lives next door. A beautiful black one that loves attention. Sometimes, she comes over to visit, and stays for a while. Today (well, Saturday), on a day like any other, she comes over as she usually does. I thought, though, that I smelled something a bit funny. I did. As she was getting ready to climb up on my lap, I noticed she had some fecal matter stuck to her back legs and tail. I managed to avoid getting any of it on me, but as I was walking away to go about my business, I couldn’t help but think about the incident. See, if I couldn’t bear to have the cat on my lap because of the dirt on her backside, I imagine that it’s got to be infinitely harder for the Father to have us nearby, stinking to high heaven with sin. Yet He still loves His children…enough to wipe us up despite the mess. Enough that He will still give us all the attention He does, and invite us in to His house.

Another thing about that cat…I love cats. I’m a cat person. Always have been. Nearest thing I’d get ot a dog would be a beagle, and that’s just because of Porthos, Captain Archer’s dog from Star Trek: Enterprise. Anyway, as I was saying…I love cats. I give this one all the attention I can whenever I see her. I love having her next door. As I was walking, I thought ‘now here’s a little something about love – God loves us enough to clean up all the messes we make of ourselves. Loves us enough to bear what we do and say to and about Him so, so many times in our lives. Loves us enough to say ‘you need to be cleaned up…let Me do it’ despite it all. I have to confess…this time, I’m glad the cat was someone else’s responsibility. But in that, remember this: I left her to be dealt with by someone else, because I didn’t want to take a cloth to that cat’s butt. I left feeling relieved. Is that how God deals with us? My point in all this is actually twofold. The first you;ve just read. The second…Love is willing to sacrifice enough to push pass the mess and the unpleasantness because the other needs help. To go back to Babylon 5…As the reverend tells Sheridan, when she [Delenn] offers to help Sheridan, it’s because she wants to be involved with his problems. The line is great, but it’s been so long since I saw the episode that I forget exactly what it is.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer

To Him Who Is Able…

kristofaros — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:34:41 +0000

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling…

We stumble a lot. Inevitably, in the Christian walk, we sin, we fall down. Some would place sole responsibility on us…we are backsliders, we are unrepentant. These are true terms, but don’t reveal the heart of the matter. One must be careful not to bear the responsibility for his own salvation, lest in doing so works-righteousness becomes dominant and Christ subservient to our wrongheartedness. We are charged to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but that does not mean we are the originators of our own salvation. All of this is a doctrinal issue, which does not reflect the point of my thoughts today. What I’m getting at is that a faith in Christ not only allows but actually believes this to be true. To take a page from the self-actualizers and use the notion of affirmations (now, repeat after me)

I believe that Christ, who is Lord, is able to keep me from stumbling as I walk with Him.

He is Simon the Cyrene to us, in some ways. He is the prophet Nathan, who reprimanded King David for adultery and murder (see II Samuel 12:1-15) He is not only Lord of the heart, but Lord of the mind, too. But we need to believe it.

Blessings;

Christ -bearer.

Doxa/Logos

kristofaros — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:16:58 +0000

I said that I’d be spending some time talking about Jude. Specifically, what I wanted to mention was the doxology in Jude 24-25. It reads:

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (ESV)

Recently reading over this in preparation for a Bible study, it occurred to me that there’s got to be a reason for it to be one of the well-known doxologies. There’s definitely a lot in two verses, when you look at it, and when I look at it, it’s to see no less than five key descriptions of the nature of God in Christ. I’ll spend some time on each of them, and I’m going to look at the four words of attribution in vs 25 in an entry as well. To briefly summarize here are the five characteristics of God in Christ:

Him who is able to keep you from stumbling

Present you before the presence of his glory blameless and with great joy

Only God, Our Saviour

Possessed of glory, majesty, dominion and authority

Before all time [or ages] and now and forevermore

and here are the four attributions:

Glory, Majesty, Dominion and Authority.

Let’s see what comes up.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer

Where Did All the God Go?

kristofaros — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:12:23 +0000

I was just thinking today about trying to get back into a routine, and this came into my head. Alright, to be honest, I reread my post on the prodigal son, written nearly a year ago now, I believe. I was amazed (a bit conceited, I know, but there it is). I was amazed because I’ve really been missing writing like that, and I didn’t even realize it. Getting too bogged down in things day to day, I think. The mundanity of it all. There’s more out there. And I’m going to start on about it again, beginning with some reflection on Jude. Not tonight, but shortly, to force me into doing it.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

The End…or the Beginning.

kristofaros — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:22:55 +0000

I’ve been pretty disinterested in writing here for the last little while. It seems a little foolish to be writing an online journal, which this essentially is, and not really accomplishing anything by it. I get to look at my own writing and get uppity about it. I connect to nothing, send words spinning off into electronic space without heeding the consequences or the real beauty of the thing, and then close the window for another month. I haven’t spent any effort on maintaining or developing a readership here, writing more for myself than for anyone else. So here’s the crossroads. Do I continue or do I shut off the lights, as it were. Who knows what’s been taken from this, who’s been taking it or why. I’m stymied.

Perhaps a change in pace and design are necessary. I’ve got, in draft form, an online serial essay that I’m going to be putting up soon, as I continue to write it. I may be refreshed by doing this, I may not. I just know that ennui has set in.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

Who Do You Trust?

kristofaros — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:14:17 +0000

The final, but maybe the least circumspect question we are asked. Who do you trust?

When we ask it of ourselves, we may be surprised by the answers. We sometimes put our trust in the wrong places, and pay for it. We sometimes expect ourselves to be capable of doing things we’re not, and feel let down when we can’t deliver what we want ourselves to be able to. When we ask it of others, we may be humbled, surprised, or grieved by the answers.

So what’s the story? Who do you trust? Why (that’s cheating, really. It’s not part of the five)

Who do you want to trust?

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

Who Do You Serve?

kristofaros — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:09:09 +0000

There are three unique answers to this question, as I see it: One answer is to serve oneself. One answer is to serve the world. One answer is to serve the Lord. There are many more, but my focus will be on these.

To serve oneself is the answer that most of us must give to the question. So few of us know what our mission in life is, or what it means to be in service to another. We do not live as legitimate slaves, nor as prisoners, nor as consciously selfish as I might imply with this answer.

Or do we?

The second answer pulls from the first, and lays bare some fairly deep truths. Though we might deny to ourselves and to others that we live as slaves, we remain in bondage to dependence on the world. Many of us, at some point (and maybe still), serve in our workplaces as slaves to the whims of someone in authority, someone higher up. We work long hours and remain in contact with our work at all times, sacrificing the autonomy of the slave to righteousness for the subjugation of the slave to transience. Or we look at earning money as the sole thing of value in the lives we live, ignoring opportunities to see beauty in service or in extending a hand to others. To serve the world seems one’s lot in life unless the desire to live differently is consciously enacted. And it’s a hard thing to do.

Finally, to serve Christ. This is the only thing of value in this life, as it offers us fulfillment in serving others, because in doing so we are giving glory to God. It offers us, though we may not immediately recognize it, the delights and the desires of our hearts when we can hear them. We may not want to see the smiles on the faces of those whom the world considers ugly, or forgotten, or of little consequence when they hear that there is freedom beyond this life. We may not want to have our hearts moved by the honest thanks of those who have been unloved. But in serving Christ, we’re given these things to cherish. And that is what we must ask ourselves when we ask who do you serve. If you serve yourself, you will live selfishly, often coldly and without compassion. If you serve the world, you will sacrifice the chance to see miraculous things in the lives of those you live and work and eat with. And you will make choices that do not honour your abilities and gifts as a Christian. But if you serve the Lord…He is good.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

Where Are You Going?

kristofaros — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:56:12 +0000

Apparently, nowhere with this blog. But in all seriousness, to return to the five questions, where are you going asks perhaps the most (forgive the pun) directed question. Where are you going first asks “from where have you come?” You must have a point of departure to arrive at a point of destination. So from where have you come invites reflection. Look back, see your journey. See what path you have traveled, what long road you have walked and what obstacles you’ve encountered. Look back and see what flukes of fate (as if it can be called such a trite thing) and what journey mercies have supported you. Take strength from what you see, for you have been brought through much, I’m sure.

To turn to “where are you going?” is to look forward, to see what path you feel you need to follow. Matthew Gideon’s answer was “wherever it takes me.” A wise answer, yes, but a cop-out at the same time. “Where are you going” is to ask yourself honestly what shape your life seems to be taking, and what plan you think you are following. Make no mistake. All journeys, all “where are you goings” must have a map, a guideline to follow. Take, for example and because I’ve just rewatched them, Jack Sparrow’s compass from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. A tool, a device that doesn’t point to where one thinks it should, but to where you want it to direct you. What you want most. And thus we look back at the question before…what do you want. For what you want is one of the primary determinants of where are you going.

In application, my answer to what do you want is Christ. More of Him and as clear a sense of who He is as I can get. My answer to where are you going…to Him. With all questions, all burdens, and all the warts and disfigurements that make me who I am. And in finding the answer “To Him”, I can ask the questions that follow with more honesty…

Who do you serve?

And who do you trust?

Blessings;

Christ-bearer

What Do You Want?

kristofaros — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:16:58 +0000

The second of the Five Questions…and perhaps the one that critiques our personality the most. If we are asked who are you, we can search hard to identify ourselves, or we can simply say ‘I am…’ but if we are asked what do you want, we draw on our thoughts, our feelings, our covetousness, our loves, everything that makes us do the things we do. If I ask myself “what do you want”, I’m faced with a list of so many things…and not God. Not Jesus as much as He asks us to want Him. A source of regret or a source of impelling towards Him. If I ask another “What do you want?”, I can get a sense of where their desires lie, and where their heart is. Whether that’s a good thing, I don’t know, although to use such a question in missions would truly be a groundbreaking step. But it is one of the most telling to see where hearts have been prepared for Jesus. “What do you want?” “To be forgiven…to be healed…to give up on our shameful ways.”

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.