Righteousness Exalts a Nation?

esus Changes us personally and culturally, when invited to participate in our processes. Lion of Judah! Savior and Ruler of all! When I look at Tolkien’s observations of our culture and our racial culture, which I call Eurocentric Christianity: it seems he has a maternal sense of the ailments of our time and perspectives. We missed this and that truth in scripture. We emphasize this truth to the complete ambiguity of all the other commands of God. where is the rounding of our infected perspective that will truly help us to progress. He said we keep reaching lower and lower into the mire of muck to create new concepts in Christendom. We come up with freaks of scientific expressions of humanity that have very little resemblance to humanity in their behaviors. They have a warfare to fight and we if we would keep our souls in tact, must war against those creations of our own hands and wrestle them into compliance to Christ. This is true of the Sons of Ham as much as the Sons of Japheth. But we haven’t studied our pagan tendencies and our Christian consistencies. We seem to think in Ham that if we are children of the slaves our souls are “in Tact” {Young Gifted and Black). We must fight the good fight in our education as well as those for whom the bells toll{tongue in cheek}. God lends mothers who are devoted and praying a discerning eye and ear and God lends to teachers who are discerning and praying a hand at living our culture and raising our culture to a greater level of conformity to Christ. It is not just about what we do in Church to worship God. It is about our labors whether they are wood, hay or stubble and whether our trust is truly in Christ or is it in our cultural perspective about Christ. I love the Jonah Movie Veggietales, but I find the imbalance of our perspective expressed. Are all Blacks angels in the belly of the whale, singing our culture to Glory? I don’t think so. I think that God is trying us with one issue of our culture especially. If you cannot spend yourself as people have spent themselves for the sake of slavery on that issue of killing the unborn, perhaps you’ll not get a second chance for your soul or for your culture. IS there always a second chance? God give grace and mercy, but surely He has lines of demarkation that we mustn’t cross. When we stand and defend the killing of the unborns we are standing against Him. “Those who hate Him love death” Give us Grace Dear Lord, to steer our society from the precipice of death and give us a guidance toward life. Amen

Were you there?

Jesus is the center of redemptive history!

Are we Christocentric Christians?

I have always thought myself a Christocentric Christian. I have always valued my redemption purchased by the shed blood of Christ as my greatest possession. Does that mean I am a Christocentric Christian?

Recently, however my concentration on the New Testament has given me a confessional perspective, walking circumspectly. I am lamenting the many days that I have identified with good men and exalted their testimony above the redemption bought for me in Christ. It is a point that might seem small, but it really isn't. All of scripture and all of the examples of scripture are meant to lead us to the superiority of the only true salvation. Jesus is the example for imitation. I was a "doctrinal centric" Christian, and I don't think that is a bad thing. I have searched my thoughts, with the light of scripture for inconsistencies in my behavior to my faith and used these finds to confess my sins and bring my behavior and thought into captivity to Christ, with much varying degrees of success in these endeavors. Some areas of my life go into the wash of the Word and seem to come out with the same stains upon them. Some of the successes have lead me to a greater sinfulness of sedentary self sufficiency, which is nearly damnable and needs a greater cleansing.

Who will relieve me from the body of this death? I know that Christ has cleansed us from the weight of the law and the sins which so easily beset us. But, it doesn't seem to work for me. Recently, these struggles of political sort, seem designed to promote a season of self-justification. That is a dangerous and insidious spiritual cancer that cannot be cleansed with the usual applications of the Word. It is a season of basking in the light of the perfection of Christ more than ever before. He is my only substitute before the throne of Grace. None of the righteous men who have gone before have paid the price for my sins. Nor have they given example of right behavior in the light of the sin of self-righteousness. God give grace to stand in this evil day, please!

What Language Shall I Borrow?

O Sacred Head Now Wounded

How can I thank the dearest friend of mine for salvation?

Jesus paid it all for us to believe and make it all the way to the end of our lives believing Him. It seems perilous sometimes. Poverty, prosperity, health and sickness all seem conspired to trip us in our confession of Christ. In special times we tend to lean on self. In hard times we tend to blame God, but I never meditated on the importance of the borrowed language of thankfulness.

In my family, much emphasis was placed on people having clear articulation. Also, great accolades of verbal praise were heaped upon those who spoke "the Queen's English" {on the Jamaican side of the family especially}

From whom are we borrowing our language of thankfulness?

Many who articulate clearly and concisely use sparing words to lavish praise. Many of mean language remain very verbose in their gratitude. Written language of English seems retained for the Theologians to give praise in clarity to God.

We owe Him all!

We owe Him the language of our hearts. We owe Him the language of our lips. And we owe Him the passing on of the language of praise to an upcoming generation! Lest, we become mute and language become hellbound. I fear we already are on that path.

Levels of Confusion in the Soul?

Watching the Babies

I see the relationship between a community and their children. God gives us a trust in their hearts. We either shepherd them toward truth and right or we let them to themselves. As we give them consistent examples of well-meaning direction, they learn to trust and to follow righteousness...God blesses our efforts and solidifies our efforts in exalting our nation or degrading it.

Sometimes we think it is our responsibility to help the children by showing them the double standards and duplicity of life. That is not the job of parents and caretakers, that is the job of the devil and he will show himself to them erelong. When we prayerfully take the hand of God and work with him to mold children's thinking and imaginations it is a greater responsibility and has greater consequences than any other work that we do. The storms of life and the storms that come from the sea are nothing compared to the randomness of children who are left to themselves. Peace be still and the storm listens to God. Yet we let these children churn and whirl out of control and think nothing of letting them gain habits of destruction and anger that they will never be able to recover from. When we learn to heed our parents in being quiet, when our very souls seem to be upset and quaking, God can teach us to submit that same control to His Spirit. We submit, like the storm to the voice of God. He tells us, when to wail and when and where to place our anger and upsetment. God can use that. He doesn't miss. He always hits his targets. We are practicing so that we can be accurately and rightly used by Him in our quiet and in our loudnesses! God redeem and exalt our culture from the randomness of self directed children. Give us direction through your Spirit!

For the beauty of the sky

When I was a youngun, I complained and cackled before the Lord for every providential dissuasion from my plans. Why? Lord, don't you know that I had plans for that time that was lost to a flat tire. Oh so often, some great revelation of my children's lives would come out of the hours spent waiting for the tow truck or the help for our automotive distresses. We were privy to each other's every thought in the midst of a small car with 6 to 9 little people trapped inside on a highway or a major thoroughfare. I learned to see it as an opportunity to get to know the people that I was with, but yesterday it was a getting to know God in the sky. He has amazing moving pictures that are wondrous. I am grateful that the God of the universe entertains us in His mind and paints and designs ways to get our attention that are sometimes inconvenient, but always in His great love. Thank you Lord.

Like a weaned child...

When we wean...

Crying and fussing but it always comes too soon.  Why do we wean?  It is a graduation to the cup.  A letting go.  There aught not be fuss and fanfare because everyone must do it.  But often there is a hanging on to the sucking.  Where is my binky?   Some children are a. Little more needy of those things than others.  Does it mean they will be addictive sorts? Not letting go to anything that they latch onto.  Somehow I imagine my Junior carrying a receiving blanket down the aisle for graduation from Highschool.  No! I must be firm.  It doesn't really mean that.  It is an early opportunity to teach that every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights.   This is in fact a perfect opportunity to say and sing this verse to secure it into their conscious minds as they lament their loss.  God is good and is the ultimate comforter and as we let go of these creature comforts for greater freedoms we embrace the ability to comfort others and the ability to walk with God in a greater and more mature way.  "Help Lord hat I might sympathize with my child in his maturing and guide him to the God of all comforts!  Amen."