Lucy

Of course I believe it's true
Why? 
Don't you?

Of course not
Only an idiot could believe that
Frogs don't become princes you know
Never in a million years could all that be possible
Archeologists all agree
Every biology textbook is clear
Just ask your friendly neighborhood geologist
They'll tell you
Frogs don't become princes
Never in a million years

But what about The Book?

What about it?

It's His. And He says it's true.

No, it doesn't say that. And it's not "His".

Yes. It is.

No, it is most certainly not "His"
You've been brainwashed to think that
Religious people invented the "Book"
They chose it to suit their imaginary theodicy
They just wanted to overpower the weak and vulnerable
It's all a power struggle, that's all
That Book is just like every other book on earth: humanly crafted
You can't magically turn a human book into a Divine One
No matter what you call it
Frogs don't become princes
Not even in a billion years

But what about all the devout worshipers across the globe?
And all the miracles from above?
And all the apparitions? 
And all the answered prayers?
Do you think they all believe in fairy tales?

Unfortunately, yes
But cheer up
Not everything is gloomy just because that One turned out to be a joke
We humans still get to craft our own destiny
For a long time there has been hope dawning at the end of another tunnel
The tides have turned considerably since those ancient myths of His became facts
The four rivers flow westward now, to where our seeds were planted and nurtured a century ago
All the trimming and grooming over here is finished
Faithful groundskeeping is all that's needed now
The trees are fully grown and bearing fruit each year
Pleasant to the sight of all, and good for food
Some now even say that its fruit is able to make one wise
The Mythicists even crafted a clever little ditty in that regard:

'Rejoice all ye lands and do not look grim

With oodles of time on our side

And laws of Nature to guide

Myriads of self-purposed mutations later

And with only One common ancestor

Frogs actually did become princes and without any need for Him'

Despite tiny inconsistencies here and there
We no longer feel the need to challenge those who guard and keep our garden
Such ditties are kind of charming, actually
And it rhymes



11/26/17

Drugs of Choice

Why should You be worshiped?
You see them boxed in, lonely and terrified, tormented and gasping, yet You do nothing about it
The rape behind the curtain
The brain swelling in the infant
The Omnipresent One prefers to dine while watching the film It made
We foolishly accept Your distractions to placate the wrath of your disciples
Butter, brewer's yeast, and sea salt are the drugs of choice

The Omnipotent One just stares into the cold, dark night
You--the Holy One--You can command legions to come to your own aid at any moment
Yet not to theirs?
If I should worship You, then make me believe
I'll give You forty minutes to respond favorably
Yes, I would like some salt
No, I brought my own sweets, and I don't particularly care if I'm not supposed to tell You that

Forty-one minutes later...

What kind of a pathetic Deity would pass up such a sublime opportunity?
Even if You did exist, I wouldn't prostrate myself before You
Where were You when I needed You most, anyway?
It's like this every day--the same torturous imaginary bullshit every day
You're the one who invented torture, aren't You?
You do all of this just because You can
Or, maybe, it's because You can't

Is that it?
You think You're the greatest, but You're really just a poser, like the Devil
Or maybe You are the Devil
Can You even hear me?
I said that's what You are--the Devil
I am the real God of me
And to prove it, I'm going to live my life without You

I will spend my life promoting Science
The true source of our knowledge--at least, what we can know, anyway
And I will make peace with Your ridiculous devotees by calling myself an Agnostic
I will study the book You dropped out of heaven, and Your disciples will learn how hopelessly inept they are as long as they cling to You while listening to Me
Instead of being brainwashed by Your "good" and Your evil, they will learn to focus upon the truth
Their only moral obligation will be to follow that truth wherever it leads
If it leads some sick poodles back to You, we will show mercy, as long as they are merciful
But with the froward we will show ourselves froward

That is the best scientific means to keep the peace
In due time--hopefully not another billion years--the good news will be settled
And Our kingdom established
The most important task at hand now is to quell Your soldiers and set Your captives free
Free to do whatever they want within the limits of Our gospel
Free to be like You
For Science knows of no boundaries other than the ones Our peers review






11/24/17

Between Two Worlds

In the beginning was no end

Days, hours, minutes are there, so we are told

But there is no end

Like a crushed record

Shattered into pieces

We found her by his side from the very beginning, with no end in sight

Five pillars supported her stars

Ten words made us, but they weren’t good enough

Seventy bullocks and seven generations later we started getting it right

At least we thought we did

Pour the chalice over and onto us if you must

Let the dust soak it all in to form your new mud puppet to play with

We’ve all been waiting for this day

Raise the war-bow to remember no more so that Hosea’s children will be justified

Do not spare us just this once

Let the waters above crack open and shed down hailstones

Light our vigil candles below 

Prepare new globes of fire within the firmament

If we must have our cadavers back, then just say a word and our soul shall be healed

Form our glass with your lightning and scatter the ten thunderings across the sea shore one last time

Leave broken what is broken, shells and all

Ditch the glue and fill the week with one more evening—just one—and we will become wise

11/24/17

Knowing God

We all pretend to know but we really don’t

We certainly can know but we won’t

Our careers depend upon imagineering 

Our friendships demand it

Our identity is it

So let’s think for ourselves as we watch them lounge to the Netflix of dogma and genuflect to the magisterial bestsellers that kindle fire

We know it’s not true that we don’t know anything, otherwise why tweet?

Admittedly we don’t know everything, but that’s what democracy is for

She knows there is a difference between knowing and pretending, but she doesn’t know the principle is the same

We are told that in dying we shall die if we count equality with God a thing to be grasped

Isn’t this contrary to everything we know?

Where was God in the tsunami?

God is perfectly good, she says

He is omnipotently, omnisciently, omnipresently good

Even if God is good, isn’t it obvious that the way she portrays him isn’t?

We know the winds do not actually obey his words, otherwise God would be the author of tsunamis

We know that God must return in the flesh again to make the wind obey his word, making all things good again

His feet must touch the mount before he can be our judge, our lawgiver, and our king

Only then will every one of us know, and bow to his omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotence 

She knows this world is not yet as it is in heaven

We certainly know what heaven is not like

It’s not like earth where we are like gods

We don’t even need test scores to know that she pretends

Total depravity only makes matters worse

They say that if any man—save Jesus—or any woman—especially Mary—could live sinlessly, even by God’s grace, they know they could qualify as the Messiah and steal the glory due to His omnipotent name alone

Don't they know God is dead?

We know this is heresy

She knows it too, and they still believe that empire of truth in which every Adam lives

We, however, are under grace, not law

Sometimes she even pretends to be pretending, so that even when we know that she doesn't know a thing, she doesn’t want others to know that we know that she doesn’t actually know

For if she didn’t at least know with boldness and confidence, how could she help all those around us with so much uncertainty?

She must pluck the firebrands out of the fire, and then they too will know

It is heresy for her to be wrong

When she repents—if ever that happens—that will be a sure sign of her total depravity

‘She always was the harlot,’ will be our refrain

They know that the only incarnate thing in life—at least the one that is without stain—is the good book, as long as the Apocrypha is not considered

Even the Creed knows this much; ’We Believe’ is our standard for perfect unity

Just don’t tell that to the Council of Chalcedon, or the iconoclasts, or Monothelites

Rethink one jot or tittle of the law or the prophets, and no more Jesus for you; no more bread and wine from her

She knows that one cannot be known if one doesn’t confess that Jesus is an impotent monarch, enthroned in the heavens, awaiting that final trumpet blast

That’s when he, too, will know it is time to finally come in glory to judge the living and the dead

Hell is for those who don’t know what she knows, and she knows that not even Jesus still knows the day or the hour

Don’t pretend you don’t know about the parenthesis of His plan

Don’t pretend that the signs aren't everywhere

Don’t pretend that we won’t get this flesh back 

We know that is gnosticism, so away with the Atheists

Away with those who pretend to know that the end was really the beginning

Away with those who say, along with Hymenaeus and Philetus, that the resurrection is past

Away with those who reduce history to a guess

9/20/17

Reaching God

Eyes open and no thoughts about it 

It sees me

It knows me

Eat the fruit and you will know

Plan A was life 

And plan B was life too

Drink the cup and you will know it

Draw near to it

Neither supra nor infra can change it

That's what Nietzche said lawyers are for

Fire and hail, snow and ice, tempestuous winds make life worth living

Just stub your toe and that all changes

Dust was plan A

And there never was a plan B

Procreation seems so cruel

Without eating the fruit

Who would know?

The grass withers

The flower fades 

And we know it

We beget and more is known 

And they know it too

Clement said that jealousy and strife have overthrown great cities and uprooted great nations

How blessed and marvelous are the gifts of God

Eyelids close to think about it

The tree is me 

The tree is you 1

1 This is a poem I wrote on 9/08/17, shortly after being exposed to the amazing poetry of Anne Sexton.

After 500 Years of Celebration...

I’m so sorry to hear that! I’ll be praying for God to turn them back.

It must be so heart-wrenching for you, being so close and all.

That’s really, really sad, actually. 

Their whole system of sacraments and church authority is unbiblical.

The Bible actually teaches against cannibalism.

Only Elders and Deacons are biblical, too.

And that whole crazy talk about Mary! Every true Christian knows she shouldn’t be worshiped!

Satan is so clever, masking himself as an angel of light. 

She can’t even hear our prayers anyway! 

Where in the Bible does it say that she can hear our prayers after death? Nowhere, that’s where. 

Then there’s the problem with priests. Not only are they not Biblical, but because none of them have ever been allowed to marry, they just invite pedophilia and homosexuality into the church. It’s like they don’t even care about God’s Law!

And the Pope! Don’t even get me started with that nonsense. 

They actually believe every word he says! If Pope Francis told them that Abortion and Communism was good for humanity, they’d treat his words like Jesus himself said them. One can only hope that the Pope will one day renounce their unbiblical belief in works, too. Maybe then Catholics will understand the gospel.

They actually believe people are not saved by faith alone. Can you believe that? 

“Works” are necessary too, they say. 

But where in the Bible does it say that?!? 

Salvation is—at least, according to God’s Word—a gift of God which you cannot earn. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, but is a gift of God. NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast. That’s what Jesus taught. We are saved through faith; not on the basis of faith; not “because” of faith, but THROUGH it. 

Faith is an instrument that God gives to us as His gift. We didn’t earn it! 

That’s why the doctrines of confession and penance are misleading too. They treat priests and the penance they give as magic tricks or something. 

Who in their right mind actually thinks a priest has the authority to assign “works” for you to do, and that if you don’t obey his arbitrary rules—rules that aren’t found in the Bible, by the way—you cannot be saved? 

Priests can’t work magic. Jesus is all you need to be saved. 

Once you really have Jesus, there’s nothing you can do to lose your salvation. 

I always recommend people get a good Bible and study it every day, when they wake up in the morning, and when they walk by the way, and when they lie down to sleep at night. That’s what the Bible commands us to do. All day, every day, we ought to be people immersed in the Bible. 

I prefer the KJV or NKJV, but I also don’t mind the NIV so much.

I prefer the NKJV because it uses the most pure text for translation into English. I don’t want a Bible that softens the gospel of God’s grace. I want it to be as free from error and external human influences as possible. 

Have you asked them how often they read their Bibles? I bet that’s part of why they converted—not reading their Bibles.

I always tell people that they need to bathe in God’s word if they want to remain faithful. Otherwise, who knows what can happen? Backsliding even a little from the truths of God’s word is seriously dangerous. The slope is too slippery. 

I always tell my friends to memorize the Gospels and Acts first, followed by Romans and Galatians. That’s the best way to get a grip on the Gospel. 

Of course they should read the entire Bible. But not the Catholic Bible, because that has the Apocryphal letters in it, which are not inspired and inerrant.

Paul says that all Scripture is inspired of God, and is profitable for all the instruction we need in life. And if you compare the word of God with the Apocryphal writings, it’s obvious that the Apocrypha is not God-breathed, which is why the Great Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox didn’t include those books in their Bibles. 

You know, if your friends ever have questions about the Bible, just give them my number and I’ll set aside some time to talk with them. Or you can invite them to my church, if you want. Our pastor is one of the most Biblical preachers around. He even has a blog of his own with links to his sermons on it. 

He can help your Catholic friends. That’s why—I believe—we are commanded to honor the Sabbath and to keep it holy. If we are not fed the Word of God regularly in worship, at least once a week, then we’re not being spiritually nourished. 

Oh, we also have a prayer meeting once a week. You should prayerfully consider inviting them to join us sometime. A life of prayer is so important, even for Catholics; probably even especially for Catholics, because with all those distractions about Mary, the saints, the rosary, and all other fluff, they might even forget what real prayer is like!

You know what? I have a book I can give you, too, which you can give to them. I can just buy another copy for myself. It’s no big deal. In this book they can learn so much about the truth of God’s word. 

In our church we call it the little green book, but that’s not actually it’s name. It’s called a catechism, which is the most accurate expression of the Christian faith in writing today (apart from the Bible of course!). 

What makes it so great is that it is in question and answer format, asking and answering all the really important and “deep” questions about God and his word, and everything in it comes directly from the Bible, almost word for word. 

Every question and answer has a list of footnotes underneath it which shows exactly where in Gods inspired word the answers are found. So they can open up their Bible and read the truth for themselves. And it is by the Bible's truth that they will be set free, just as Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel. 

Oh, and one more thing….

I almost forgot...

Do you know if they have ever heard of Strong’s Concordance? 

Do you even know what that is?

It’s a really neat book which highlights the true meaning of each word in the Bible.

It’s really helpful for people who can’t read the original languages. 

That way, no matter what translation your friends use (just hopefully not a Catholic one!), they can always go to God’s original, unadulterated word for answers.  

I’ll see if I have a copy at home, and if I do I’ll drop it off at your house this week, to give to them.

Again, I’m so sorry to hear about their "conversion." 

I will be praying for them this Wednesday evening.

I’ll let my pastor know, too. He can pray for them.

And if you don’t mind, I’ll even tell other Christian brothers and sisters in my Bible study about them, so they too can intercede for them. 

Perhaps God will be merciful, and hear all of our prayers.

Sermon on the Mount: Sections C & C' (part 5)

As noted in the beginning of this mini-series about the Sermon on the Mount, the whole sermon is laid out for us in the form of a chiasm:

A. Jesus ascends mountain surrounded by crowds (4:23-5:2)

   B. Blessings (5:3-10)

      C. Fulfill “the law and prophets”/ glorify “your Father in Heaven” (5:11-20)

         D. Two triads about Torah (5:21-48)

            E. One triad about spiritual discipline (6:1-18)

         D'. Two triads about Godly priorities (6:19-7:6)

      C'. “This is the law and prophets”/”your Father in Heaven” provides (7:7-12)

   B'. Warnings (7:13-27)

A'. Jesus descends mountain surrounded by crowds (7:28-8:1)

In the last post we completed section "C".  Now we are going to tie it into section C', which says:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

At first glance the meaning of section C' (7:7-12) might not seem to correspond to section C (5:11-20) simply because of its difference in size. After all, one section is twenty verses long, whereas I'm claiming that it's corresponding section, section C', which contains only six verses, derives it's meaning from the previous twenty verses near the beginning of the Sermon.

But let's begin by asking some obvious questions, and I hope it will become obvious immediately as to why I think both sections are mutually interpretive. When reading 7:7-12, the first obvious question we ought to be asking (as indeed, we should imagine Matthew's audience asking) is, ask for what? A second question would be this: Knock, and what would be opened to them? A third (and again, obvious) question is: Everyone who asks for what, receives what? 

To summarize: Everyone who seeks after what, finds what? Everyone who knocks, what will be opened?

I contend that apart from the literary structure of the Sermon itself, according to the way Matthew wrote it (or whoever wrote it--it doesn't matter who wrote it at this point in our inquiry, but what is actually written is most important), there is no clear answer to that question. Scholars conjecture in a wide variety of ways in response to these questions, yet most don't approach it from the Sermon's own literary structure. If you look at the verses immediately preceding this section (which would be section B': 6:19-7:6) I can assure you that you won't find the answer there. The whole Sermon must be taken into account. And since the whole Sermon must be taken into account, why not look to the preceding section which corresponds to it? Yet that is precisely what we are about to do. With a literary approach that pays attention to the internal structure of the speech in question, we will be able to answer the obvious and somewhat naggingly unclear questions above.

The first question, again, was: Ask for what? If we look back to section C (here, here, here, and here), the answers become apparent. They ought to have asked for hope and joy through the coming persecutions. They were to seek to have their light shine brighter than the scribes and Pharisees. And if a door stood in opposition to where Christ was leading them, here in section C' they are encouraged to simply knock and it would be opened for them.

They could also ask for wisdom when others thought their witness to the truth of Jesus Christ was foolish. In retrospect, one might think that would have been an obvious thing to ask, given that Jesus had already warned them about being trampled under foot by hostile brethren opposing Jesus and the good news that his kingdom was drawing near (which, as we have seen in previous posts, necessitated the destruction of Herod's Temple, which many first century Jewish leaders and their disciples idolized).

They could have also sought to obey and teach others about the Law and the Prophets, which included their way of fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Now they are being told that if only their brethren knocked on the door of Christ's Church, they also would be welcomed into his heavenly kingdom. Unfortunately, as we know from historical accounts, such as Josephus, Tacitus, and Eusebius (and as noted by a wide variety of Church Fathers), not all of first century Israel took Jesus' advice.

Implicit in all of these illustrations is their asking, seeking, and knocking for good things—what God has revealed to be good things. Those good things they were exhorted to ask for and pursue were—somewhat surprisingly—gifts which only the Holy Spirit could give.

Luke 11:13 clarifies this. (And Matthew seems to be taking this for granted as understood in context.) Luke records the same statement as Matthew, but with one additional phrase: 

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

In Matthew's version ("If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children”) the phrase could be rendered a tad bit more literally, in order to clarify some potential concerns of ours. What Matthew says, more woodenly, is this:

Therefore if you-all, although you-all are evil, know how good gifts are given to your children, how much more…(etc.)1

It turns out that in Matthew's version, Jesus is not accusing all the people before him of being evil. He is offering them a worst case scenario. The “if” is just as important as the “although.” 

Jesus's point is this: Even the most evil parents know how good gifts are given to their children—and it’s not through cruelty, or trickery. Even the most evil parents know how to give good gifts to their children because their children ask for them. Therefore, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him? So then, whatever they wished that others would do to them, they were also to do to them, for such is the Law and the Prophets.

Notice again that along with the "Father in heaven" providing for them, this phrase, "the Law and the Prophets," also shows up. The last time we heard (or saw) these phrases was back in Section C. 

If they wanted to be treated mercifully, they too should treat others mercifully. If they wanted swift and stern justice for every sin, they had to be willing to receive it themselves. If they wanted to receive reconciliation with their family or neighbors, they needed to pursue reconciliation. If they wanted to avoid false accusations of treating others in an evil manner, they had to turn the other cheek and not resist the one who is evil to them. That is what the Law and the Prophets taught!

In other words, if they wanted to live like their God revealed in the Law and Prophets, they needed to live like Jesus. 

We learned a little about the Law and the Prophets in previous posts, so I won't rehearse them here. But I will say this: If Christians today struggle with the God revealed in the "Old Testament" Scriptures, but they also think they don't struggle with Jesus as the God of the "New Testament," they're probably not reading either "Testament" accurately. The God of the Old Testament is Jesus, and the God of the New Testament is YHWH. 

In the next series of posts I plan on going through sections D & D' in detail, and I hope to show that the common understanding of Jesus' comments about "the Law" are horrendously misunderstood, partly because the literary structure is rarely brought into the discussion, but mostly because Christians today don't actually know what the Law teaches, and therefore assume that Jesus is teaching contrary to it, when in fact he most certainly does not.   

1. The Greek is: εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς πονηροὶ ὄντες οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον…