Tried With Fire

I hate the fall. Not the season of Autumn, but the fall of humanity in the Garden and all its consequences. I hate seeing what it does to my loved ones in terms of illness and death. I hate seeing how it breeds animosity among people. I hate how sin has blinded us to knowing God. Denying its existence is being untruthful and frankly delusional. But being a Christian enables me to face this reality with the knowledge that Christ has redeemed me from the curse. The full effect of this redemption will occur when He returns. In the New Heaven and Earth, creation will be restored. Our bodies will be resurrected and fit for eternity. We will be forever with the Lord. This is what the Bible teaches regardless of how the prosperity gospel wants to twist it. And if that is what is awaiting for those who are in Christ, why would I want my best life now ? So I live in this tension of the already-and-not-yet, looking forward to heaven and yet not wanting to minimize the life and the joy that G...

There have been so many advances in public health and medicine that we live longer and healthier lives. While this is a wonderful blessing from God, have we forgotten that we are mortal? Do we believe that we will always be as healthy as we were in our prime with no diminution of mind or physical strength because conventional medicine (or alternative therapies) can provide a cure for everything? As a result of this, have we lost the ability to walk alongside loved ones who face aging and dying? These are questions raised in Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. The author is a Harvard-trained surgeon who is on the faculty of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, so he knows of what he speaks. In his career as a physician, he has noticed the lack in the medical profession and even in society-at-large of helping people who face illness, disability, and death. These issues are treated solely as medical problems so the soul-care (my word) is absent when hard decisions need to be made. F...

I've posted this song before, but it accurately describe my state of mind this week. I've been doing a bit of groaning, and I'm longing for renewal of all things. As this planet falls around the sun trapping us in the orbit  Creation groans in unison like a race of frightened orphans The darkness of this raging storm is covering up our portals  But a yearning for the light is borne in the heart of every mortal And day to day we ache  With the pain that plagues Creation  Night to night we lie awake  And await its restoration Heaven knows our lonely ways, heaven knows our sorrows  And Heaven knows things that we don't know and the joy of eternal tomorrows But through this glass we dimly see this world as it was made  Oh and the good we know must surely flow  From the heart of a kind Creator And day to day we ache  With the pain that plagues Creation  Night to night we lie awake  And await...