Behold: All the gates of heaven unfold!

Gabriel's message does away

Words: Piae cantiones, 1582; trans. John Mason Neale (1818-1866)
Tune: Angelus emittitur

Gabriel's message does away
Satan's curse and Satan's sway,
out of darkness brings our Day:

So, behold,
All the gates of heaven unfold.

He that comes despised shall reign;
he that cannot die, be slain;
death by death its death shall gain:

So, behold,
All the gates of heaven unfold.

Weakness shall the strong confound;
by the hands, in grave clothes wound,
Adam's chains shall be unbound.

So, behold,
All the gates of heaven unfold.

By the sword that was His own,
by that sword, and that alone,
shall Goliath be o'erthrown:

So, behold,
All the gates of heaven unfold.

Art by art shall be assailed;
to the cross shall Life be nailed;
from the grave shall hope be hailed:

So, behold,
All the gates of heaven unfold!

Alleluia!

Selah.

Dinosaur oops!

Caption: The real reason why the dinosaurs went extinct!

Commentary: Your day is not as bad as you think it is! The Ark hasn't sailed without you, whatever else has gone on today... so celebrate: you are not too late, your destiny is right on time, your call is waiting! :-)

Enjoy!

The nature of true love

Love at the Source

"For true love is inexhaustible;

the more you give,

the more you have.

And if you go to draw

at the true fountainhead,

the more water you draw,

the more abundant is its flow.”

Selah.

Antoine De Saint Exupéry

Crowns of glory are His right

Crowns of glory, ever bright

Words: Thomas Kelly (1769-1855)
Tune: Harts

Crowns of glory, ever bright,
Rest upon the Victor's head;
Crowns of glory are His right,
His, who liveth and was dead.

Jesus fought and won the day;
Such a fight was never fought;
Well His people now may say,
See what God, our God, has wrought.

He subdued the powers of hell;
In the fight He stood alone;
All His foes before Him fell,
By His single arm o'erthrown.

They have fall'n to rise no more;
Final is the foe's defeat:
Jesus triumphed by His power,
And His triumph is complete.

Selah.

Hazmat team called in for rotten fridge cleaning

Beware the fridge fumes!

Truth is stranger than fiction, sometimes. Life is just loaded with humor! Sometimes you just have to laugh at the irony. In the latest, an office worker sends seven co-workers to the hospital with rotten food fumes:

SAN JOSE, Calif. – An office worker cleaning a fridge full of rotten food created a smell so noxious that it sent seven co-workers to the hospital and made many others ill. Firefighters had to evacuate the AT&T building in downtown San Jose on Tuesday, after the flagrant fumes prompted someone to call 911. A hazmat team was called in.

What they found was an unplugged refrigerator that had been crammed with moldy food.

Authorities said an enterprising office worker had decided to clean it out, placing the food in a conference room while using two cleaning chemicals to scrub down the mess. The mixture of old lunches and disinfectant caused 28 people to need treatment for vomiting and nausea.

Authorities said the worker who cleaned the fridge didn't need treatment — she can't smell because of allergies.

In other news, an Amish driver was fined for having beer in the buggy. Defense lawyers say he can't be held liable because his girlfriend was really driving him buggy...

drumroll. lol. All night, folks! And who says life isn't humorous?

:-)

The owning of wings

Be Like the Bird

Victor Hugo

Be like the bird
That, pausing in her flight,
While on boughs too slight
Feels them give way beneath her
And yet sings,
Knowing she hath wings.

Selah.

Life lessons from children

To My Unborn Child

Jane Tyson Clement

I carry life or death within me;
this little stirring, blind and pushing creature
is the sweet paradox
inevitable
weighing me down with either joy
or sorrow.
Teach me, my little one, the slow acceptance,
whether death or life is born within me.
I am in God’s hands, and you
in God’s hands
through me—
all of it God’s: the light, the dark,
the winter,
and this wild, petal-drifting,
sun-dazed May.

Selah.

Jane Tyson Clement, No One Can Stem the Tide

Divine life

Lord God, whose Spirit drives us out

Lord God, whose Spirit drives us out
Beyond convention's rules and laws
To walk on water for your cause
And test what faith is all about:
Nerve us for risks the Spirit asks,
Strange venturing and daunting tasks.

Lord God, whose Spirit advocates
Structure and form which will endure
That generations may secure
Gains which past faithfulness creates:
Order our ways that we may find
Order consistent with your mind...

Firm boughs and moving sap entwine
To make true branches of the Vine!

Selah.

Words: Ian M Fraser (born 1917) © 1994 Stainer & Bell Ltd.

Thanks for the morning light

The transcendence of thanksgiving

Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself.

Chief Tecumseh

A living prayer

Here is my prayer for today! I'll share it with you... God bless you! :-)

A word for the day: Ask of me, says the Lord!

Bow to the Lord in perfect fear: Live anew, ask!

Psalm 2

Why are the nations in an uproar?
Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?
Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt
and the princes plot together,
against the Lord and against his anointed?
'Let us break their yoke', they say;
'let us cast off their bonds from us.'
He whose throne is in heaven is laughing;
the Lord has them in derision.
Then he speaks to them in his wrath
and his rage fills them with terror.
'I myself have set my king
upon my holy hill of Zion.'
Let me announce the decree of the Lord:
he said to me, 'You are my Son;
this day have I begotten you.
'Ask of me and I will give you the nations for
your inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.
'You shall crush them with an iron rod
and shatter them like a piece of pottery.'
And now, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Submit to the Lord with fear,
and with trembling bow before him;
Lest he be angry and you perish;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are they all
who take refuge in him!

Selah.

Top secret research published!

After several years intensive study, very high level classified research, I'm finally ready to publish my findings... perhaps it might help other guys out there who need to understand the finer points of the women they love! :-)

The pontiff and the pontificator

Ok, this one was just too rich to pass up! Michael Ramirez is off the top rope: professional body slam in art form, lol. Enjoy!

Hat tip for an awesome title goes to John at Powerline.

Smile!

In memoriam of G.L. Mershimer

Today is the anniversary of my father’s death, and in honor of a great man, I offer this poem. It distills the virtues that dad tried to instill. He loved this poem, and for good reason: it contains the essence of bracing, manly character – truths of personhood that truly caring fathers and mothers would love to have reflected in their sons… and yet lost seemingly lost virtues in a postmodern age of victims and identity politics.

Here’s the classic poem by Rudyard Kipling, in honor of G.L. Mershimer:

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And – which is more – you'll be a Man my son!

Thanks, Dad!

I can still hear your words, “Fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run!”

Love,

Loy

A timely reminder...

Take time

Take time to think...
It is the source of power.

Take time to play...
It is the source of eternal youth.

Take time to read...
It is the fountain of wisdom.

Take time to pray...
It is the greatest power on earth.

Take time to love and be loved...
It is a God-given privilege.

Take time to be friendly...
It is the road to happiness.

Take time to give...
It is too short a day to be selfish.

Take time to work...
It is the price of success.

Take time to re-create...
It builds a scrapbook of memories.

Take time for God...
It turns time into eternity!

Anonymous

All flesh is like grass...

A divine perspective: grassy humor!

Imagine the conversation The Creator might have had with St. Francis on the subject of lawns.

GOD: FRANCIS, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there in the USA? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle, and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect,no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought, and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees, and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, God. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds, and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Supreme Being. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it, sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, God, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now let me get this straight: they fertilize grass so it will grow; and when it does grow, they cut it off, and then they pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Creator.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. They use carbon monoxide and release oxygen. In the Autumn, their leaves fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You'd better sit down, God. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: "Dumb and Dumber," God. It's a real dumb movie about...

GOD: Never mind. I think I just heard the whole story from St.Francis!

:-)

lol. smile! Hat tip to Trish Milburn and a great post!

A letter to dad

Today is my father's birthday, and as a special remembrance gift, mom gave me a letter that she found recently -- a letter long forgotten, kept with family letters written long ago. Dad was holding a series of meetings away from the family, and we all wrote him a letter... this is the letter I wrote as a young boy, come back to me on his birthday, of all days!

It's funny-neat to me, that even as a boy I was loving nature and drawing little artwork on the sides of my letters, lol. And, I drew Dad with really big ears, which he must have appreciated! And, my pictures of cars seem to be crashing, lol... some things are prophetic! And enduring, lol...

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Dad! I'm sure the Lord can share this blog post with you, and you can smile! :-)

And, Happy Anniversary, Mom! You are a wonderful mother, and I am so grateful for you!

:-)

A wine which our souls were heretofore too weak to hold!

Being conformed to the being of our origin

When a man wills that his being be conformed to that being of his origin… when the man thus accepts his own causing life, and sets himself to live the will of that causing life… he thus receives God’s life into himself. He becomes, in the act, a partaker of the divine nature, a true son of the living God, and an heir of all He possesses. By the obedience of a son, he receives into himself the very life of the Father.

Obedience is the joining of the links of the eternal round. Obedience is but the other side of the creative will. Will is God's will, obedience is man's will. The two make one.

If we do the will of God, eternal life is ours…

Our souls shall thus become vessels ever growing. And ever as they grow shall they be filled with the more and more life proceeding from the Father and the Son – from God the ordaining, and God the obedient.

We can never know the delight of the being, the abundance of the life He came to give us, until we have it. But even now to the holy imagination it may sometimes seem too glorious… to think of awakening to this higher life and being filled with a wine which our souls were heretofore too weak to hold!

Selah.

George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons II: “Life,” quoted in “Your Life in Christ: The Nature of God and His Work in Human Hearts,” edited by Michael Phillips.

The return of the king

“Cheer up…! You have been on the edge of very great troubles, and I am only glad to hear that you have not been deeper in. But better times are coming. Maybe, better than any you remember. The Rangers have returned. We came back with them. And there is a king again… He will soon be turning his mind this way.

“Then the Greenway will be opened again, and his messengers will come north, and there will be comings and goings, and the evil things will be driven out of the wastelands. Indeed, the waste in time will be waste no longer, and there will be people and fields where once there was wilderness…”

“Isaiah 35:6, Loy!”

Then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the silent shall sing for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams will water the wasteland.

Isaiah 35:6

Isaiah 35: A meditation of life in the desert

Last week was the anniversary of my dad’s death. It’s always a tough time of the year, especially for mom… but it’s good to remember, and good to talk about love that never dies. We celebrated in low-key style: my mother, aunt and I shared a wonderful meal, giving thanks for the blessings of life and family, remembering in hope.

This meditation is a celebration of my dad’s faith – the conquering faith that framed his life and lives on even after his passing. May it encourage you to conquer too, today!

A spiritual reality of the desert

The prophecy of Isaiah faces us with the reality of the desert – and not just any desert, but the desert of spirit – the wasteland… the dry, barren places of the heart. The prophecy carries special meaning for those in exile, those facing the lonely stretches of life, perhaps with unanswered prayer or silence from God.

In a sense, the ancient people of Israel lived with one foot in the desert. They understood barrenness. Historically, their nation passed through 40 years of wilderness wandering before inheriting the land. And, even when entering the Promised Land, found that large portions of it were rocky and dry, with few naturally fertile areas, limited water and little planting soil.

They understood the physical desert, and faced it with irrigation and hard work. But today’s text references a far more fearsome desert: the desert of the soul, spiritual loneliness and apparent desertion by God: a desert beyond human resource.

Verses 3 and 4 hint at the emotional depression of this spiritual desert:

Strengthen the trembling hands, steady the weakened knees;
Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear...”

There are some things in life that go far beyond what our human resources can handle. The times when prayers aren’t clearly answered, when medicine can’t seem to help, when doctors shake their heads, when counsel of friends just rings hollow… when the heart seems silent and cold.

Anyone who has walked the dry and barren places of life will understand the feeling of Israel in the spiritual desert. You will understand the cry of the faithful captives, “How long, O Lord how long?” [Psalm 89:46, et al].

Behind these verses of Isaiah is a picture of people in Exile. Can you see them there in a foreign land, with harps hung by the rivers of Babylon? Slaves in a far away land, they lived with only endless desert between them and home... an emptiness deep inside... silenced music of the heart.

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
And there we wept, when we remembered Zion (Psalm 137:1).

The people of Israel faced the problem of the desert. It is our problem too.

The text offers two windows of desert resolution, and both are related to the character of God. The problem of the desert is countered with the presence and promise of God.

A holy presence in the desert

The presence of God is promised in verse 4:

Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear;
Your God will come, He will come with vengeance;
With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

God will come with justice and salvation! These were the words they were waiting to hear!

Verses 5 through 7 flesh out this thought:

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground a bubbling spring.

This is an incredible prophecy of God’s future presence, but for people in immediate distress, often these are only words.

Our Lord Jesus said “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” but sometimes it feels as if He has forsaken us. Honestly, don’t you sometimes feel as if you are alone in the journey? If so, realize that in the spiritual desert, this is often a normal feeling.

“My God, why have you forsaken me?” [Psalm 22:1].
“You said great things would happen, but I don’t see them in my life.”

Even John the Baptist felt this way. John was chosen by God to precede Christ, preaching repentance: “Prepare the way of the Lord!” John’s ministry reflected supernatural blessing. He was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. Yet he was thrown in prison for faithfulness to the Gospel! Sitting there on death row, praying for intervention, he fell into depression. He had only done what was right, and now faced the price of his life. In desperation he sent two messengers to Jesus to ask, “Are you the One, or should we look for another?”

In other words, “If you are the Christ, what am I doing in prison?”

It is fascinating that Jesus answered this question with words from Isaiah:

Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them [Luke 7:22, et al].

In other words, “The kingdom is among you, God has arrived, Messiah is here!” Even in prison, John, rejoice in the presence of God! The work of God is here, in Christ. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear...Your God will come...” (v. 4).

This is the prophecy of presence in the wastelands, God’s presence for those who believe... the first window of hope in the desert.

A promise of return

The second window of the text is a promise of return.

In the haunts where the jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there; and it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in the Way (v. 7b-8).
Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.
Gladness and joy will overwhelm them, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (v. 10).

This prophecy of Isaiah captures two time frames, two dimensions – human and cosmic.

The human dimension of this prophecy was fulfilled in part when the sons and daughters of Judah danced through the gates of Zion in return from Babylonian Exile, singing the song of God: “Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion!”

This human aspect was also partially fulfilled in 1948 when, against all odds, Israel once again became a nation, Jews returning to Jerusalem from the scattered corners of the earth.

A tension in desert promise

But today we live in the harsh reality of bombs and terrorists in the city of David. The haunt of jackals has not yet been replaced by flowering plants. Every bomb that explodes only proves that the cosmic reach of this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled.

The cosmic dimension promises a Highway of Holiness, purity of heart and conquered jackals.

But we aren’t there yet.

This is the striking tension of the kingdom: God’s presence is with us, yet at times we walk in silence; the promise of return is real, yet the desert has not fully blossomed.

The Highway of Holiness is not yet perfectly clear. We still walk the haunts of jackals. In a very real sense there is both now and not yet to the kingdom of God. Jesus said that the rule of God would be now in our hearts, yet it was to come over all the earth.

This is the exact vision that Job saw in darkness. In the midst of pain and doubt, he looked up and saw the truth: I know that my Redeemer liveth, and He shall stand upon the earth on the latter day (Job 19:25f). “My Redeemer lives – but there is coming a time He will stand upon the earth.” “In my flesh I shall see God!”

This is the tension of faith. It is the desert.

It is the interim between God’s revelation and final rule.

For people in Exile, the promise was ironclad: return would happen, the wilderness would once again blossom, the “years that the locust had eaten would be restored” (Joel 2:25). But they waited for that in hope.

They took the promise on a balance of faith and believed the outcome a foregone conclusion.

“Isaiah 35:6, Loy!”

My father understood this concept very well. He was crippled by polio at an early age, yet did not give up faith. At 11 years old he went from being the fastest kid in his class to the one who could not walk. He went from being a baseball prodigy to the one who could not throw a ball. But stricken in body he did not shrink in soul. He accepted partial healing of body and the vast inner wholeness that Scripture brought him. He would do what he could, and then say with a smile, “Isaiah 35:6, boys!” “Isaiah 35:6!” “The lame man will leap like a deer!”’

In one of my last conversations with him, I had to leave for Chicago, knowing he was at death’s door. In tears I told him that if I did not see him again, I’d see him over there, and we’d play ball like we were meant to – with him in a whole body: No more sitting on a wooden box trying to bat a ball with one hand! No more wishing he could run with us! He would run whole and free. He looked at me, smiled, and in his weak voice said,

“Isaiah 35:6, Loy!” “Isaiah 35:6!” “I’m going to run like a deer!”

For him the words were yet not yet fulfilled, but he lived in the promise as a reality.

Is the desert real? Is it a problem? Yes, it is... but not without the presence and promise of God!

Christ’s victory is assured. He stands as conqueror over the gathered forces of darkness! There is great power for the one who will see, even while walking the burning sand, the vision of the dew kissed rose. Even within the haunts of jackals, rich grass yet will grow.

The thirsty ground will be a bubbling spring!

Perhaps you’ve been waiting long for the desert to bloom like a rose. If so, dare to believe that He is present and working now. Can you see your desert blossoming with future life?

On the basis of these verses, can you ask, “What is God doing in the barren places of my life?”

This text gives the supernatural truth that those who experience exile in their lives, those who pass through the wilderness, those who are weak and hard pressed may shout for joy, for God can and will transform all things.

Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear;
Your God will come...With divine retribution he will come to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground a bubbling spring!

Where you need it most, may it be so.

Selah.