THEOLOGY

THEOLOGY

Sometimes I feel like a blind man being escorted through a museum by self-declared, know-it-all experts who are explaining, with unchallenged confidence, the nuance of color and light in the artwork, undetectable to me?! And, in the background I can clearly hear others who are contradicting their conclusions. And, some are even laughing?! Others are just getting angry. Surely, though, there is a master behind these pieces, reproductions, being discussed, since these pieces are only prints of originals!?  

The C's and A's opine endlessly.  The PM's and AM's rant and rave.  "I am of so-and-so; I am of him ..."

An old hymn comes to mind, "Open My Eyes"

https://youtu.be/ZYjr9CsqHvQ

2020 VISION

2020 VISION -- A prayer for the New Year.

(only once, in the history of mankind, will it be 20/20?! if you don't count BC?!)


Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” 
So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, 
the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  2 Kings 6:17

Lord, in this new year, give us eyes to see, clearly, fully, joyfully ...

to see Your undeserved, unmerited, unconditional, incredible love.

to see Your sovereign power and control over the least detail and the most important.

to see Your care and concern for all, from least to greatest, from closest to farthest, from holiest to vilest.

to see Your "glorious little ones" Your "fiery flaming ones" the mighty myriads on the mountains around us, the charioteers ...

to see Your footsteps in the sand, Your whisper in the calm, Your peace in the storm.

to see the invisible, the joy and hope and love, that surrounds and infuses us.

to see the Babe, the Child in the Temple, the One walking on the sea, the compassionate Healer, ..., the crucified, risen Lord.

to see the Matthew-25 "least of these" ... and see the blessing to respond with a touch, a cup, a kindness.

to see Him who sits at your right hand, ever interceding and pleading for us, sinners saved by His sacrifice.

to see the Place being prepared, far beyond what has been seen or imagined. 

MALL OF CHRISTIANITY

I had a waking dream about the "Mall of Christianity"?!  You know, a shopping center you can walk around in, whether you buy anything, or not.  So, I went into the maze and stumbled around in wonder and confusion!

There were five or six Anchor Stores.  They were the biggest and main part of the mall.
1. Catholics. Oldest franchise in the mall, and proud of it!  Baroque atmosphere, pomp, aristocratic, bluebloods  But, why were they playing "Mother, may I?". Not a lot about Jesus?!   There seemed to be a lot of Mexicans there too?!  I would have expected to see more Italians and Irish.  I guess they were at a different mall.  It is an interesting place.
2. Calvinists. Weird place.  Terminator-Borg-AI atmosphere?! Robots checking to see if they were model E or D?!  Cold as hell in there.  Staff really unfriendly about answering any questions.  A lot about the sovereignty of God, but little about the loving Savior?!  It was kind of stuffy in there?!
3. Charismaniacs.  They had several sections in the store, but they were a lot alike.  House of distorted mirrors with smoke blowing, and with the Joker and the Medusa pastoral couple running around?!  A lot of lip about tongues, and the "Holy Ghost" -- but little about the Head, Jesus the Son of God.  I walked around in there for a while, but left shaking my head.
4. Community-Churches-R-Us.  Loud. Flashy. Avant-garde.  Songs that were "7-11" and little depth.  There were a lot of sheep, but many had been stolen?!  A lot of shoppers in there.

(They all had guards to keep out the others, or maybe to keep in their own?!)

5. Orthodoxs. Not sure about them. Never went in. Foot doctors?! Orthopaedic surgeons?!  Just kidding.  They seemed a lot like the first place I went through?!
6. Copts. Old franchise, but another place not well known to me. Maybe they are "Hellycopts"?! Ha!  I peeked in the door, but walked on by.

Many small shops selling their speciality.  The smaller stores can be quite personal, but often peculiar.
1. Seventh-dayers.
2. KJV-ONLYers
3. End-of-worlders
4. Vegans
5. Essential-oilers
6. ...

Shoppers seemed bewildered.  Some were there just to visit, or exercise. 

Down on one end was an interesting group.  The Salvation Army was feeding homeless folks and running a thrift store?!

Nearly empty parking lot.  Most stores empty.  Food court was busy though!

I got a coffee and sat at the edge of the food court, just watching desperate derelicts walk into the Salvation Army Store looking for a sandwich, I guess.

THE HOWL OR THE HORN

Distracted and distraught, detoured into the darkness, in the distance can be heard a deep, gutteral growl.  They are out there, howling in the night.  One can almost see their fire red, glowing eyes.  When the wind is wrong, if you know what to sense, you can almost smell their foul odor.

Are they tracking me? Or, are they herding me into a dead end alley?  Or, are they baiting me into some pit?  They are hard to predict!  But, they are there!

Some are drawn to their cruel caterwauling.  Many let morbid curiousity lure them away, never to be seen again.  A few come back, mauled and mangled, with fear forever deep in their eyes.

It is bad enough that I have gotten myself into this predicament.  But, there are others following me!  Where did I make a misstep?  Where did I take a wrong turn?  How did we get here?!

In the distance, I hear the blare of the herdsman's horn!  We will go that way!  Listen.  There it is again.  Go that way, toward safety and shelter and security!  O, the tone of that ram's horn!  So familiar. So unforgettable.  So faithful!  Run to that saving sound!  Everybody, listen for the shofar!  Mashiach messages!  The Saviour is sounding our salvation!

https://youtu.be/9ht0ailWQf8

BETWEEN APES and ANGELS

Here we are, Lord! Somewhere between the apes and the angels. But even the angels rebelled?! The apes, they are oblivious to their Creator.  What are we to do?

Damn our degeneration; we have decided that we are evolved barely above the apes. And we have forgotten that we were created only a little lower than the angels.  Honestly, it seems to me, that we just want to leave You out of the equation?!

Worse, it really seems that we have slipped in the pecking order!?  We act worse than the monkeys!  It is an insult to them to say "we are behaving like animals".

We are lost in this deep darkness below.  The jungle canopy is so thick, we can't even see the light above. Maybe, if we were to climb up in the trees we could catch a glimpse of the stars?  But, it has been so long and they seem so far away.

I guess we will just roam around here on the jungle floor.  It's a little muddy, but there is plenty to eat.  The bugs are kind of bad though.  Some of us still do howl into the darkness listening for an answer.  But all that is heard is an echo.  Except, sometimes there seems to be a roar way off in the distance?!

DESTINATION END OF THE LINE

Will we like it when we get there?  We are headed to a place very different than where we are leaving.  All will be different.  Landmarks will be upturned and toppled and removed.

The men will be indistinguishable from the women.  The women will be as hard as any vicious man that ever breathed.  Family will die.  Music will be replaced by disharmonious noise.  Joy will disappear.  Anger will be our primary emotion.  We will save the trees but cities will bulge with filth.  Faith will die.  Hope will disappear.

Can we turn back?  Maybe.  But, we are picking up speed in a downhill freefall.  We will stop when we run over the edge or crash at the bottom of the pit.

But, we are laughing and squealing, for now, dancing naked and drunk on the long, black train.

I see faces outside the window, screaming with urgency, "get off!"  Gotta get off this train!  I see some who are struggling up the hillside along the track.  Lord, send angels to show the way out!

The Ides of Jesus

I'd with You always and ever be.

Hide me safely beneath Your wing.

Abide with me even through the valley.

Lied have I, so often, about nearly everything.



Denied You and cursed and sworn "not known".

Cried, did I, weeping over such failure.

Died, on that Cross, despite being left all alone.

Wide, spread they Your arms, Your love is so sure!



Side, was pierced,  life giving blood flowing down.

Tried, did I, to follow, loyal to the death?!

Shyed, away, shrinking, and slipping around.

Spied, piercing glance, me cowardly, holding my breath.



Bride of the Son, all dressed in white?!

Dryed, are all my tears, gone is the "damn".

Fried, would have been, for me, the old Snake's spite.

Vied for my soul, the Shepherd sought this lamb!



Pryed from the grip of all the hissing fiends of Hell.

Ride on to glory; ever let loud praises to His name swell!