For What It's Worth

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5

How does the modern church operate?  By spending an hour each week having someone give a carefully constructed message.  I've never been a pastor, so I don't have personal knowledge of how sermons are generally prepared, but why do we "modern" christians not see apostle-style demonstrations of the Spirit’s power?  Where are the miraculous healings?  Where is the divinely-given ability to speak in other languages (not supposed "heavenly" tongues, but Acts 2 style)?  Where are the people being raised from the dead?  Why are the "miracles" we see today so limited?  I believe that I am alive today because of God miraculously touching me in 2006, likely in response to the fervent prayers of many concerned believers, but when did a Biblical miracle go only halfway like that?  Are we depending too much on human wisdom?  What does my faith lie on?  What about yours?

Attributes of God - God is Loving

For each of us, the word love is a noun or a verb.  As a noun, love is a feeling of affection toward an object or being.  As a verb, to love means to express this feeling of affection.  In the case of God, love means much more.  The Bible says that God is Love.  This is of course not true in the literal sense, but the attitude, emotion and act of love is so much a part of the character of God that is impossible to express the nature of God without mentioning love.

Unfortunately, the world's skewed understanding of love has indelibly stained our perception.  We use a lot of in a flippant, casual way.

“I love that dress.”

“I love french fries.”

To apply the word love to something temporary and transient is to dramatically minimize its power.  Though none of the other lyrics are terribly meaningful, a famous song from the 1960s sums up the concept of love quite nicely.

“Love, love, love; love is all you need.”

If God is indeed love, this couldn't be more true.

Attributes of God - God is Just

To be just is to be fair.  Because He is just, God will never act any way that is unfair.  Everything that God does, has done or will do is completely correct and appropriate by any truly objective standard.  Where there has been undeserved suffering, there will certainly, in due time be a be a reward.  Where there has been undeserved blessing, there will certainly in due time be appropriate consequences.  By His very nature, God cannot act in a way that is not just toward us, humans, the most intelligent, most capable (of both good and bad) beings in creation.

This is potentially terrible news.  If God is completely just, then we are in trouble.  We have all acted in ways that are inappropriate and we all deserve punishment.  So long as we are imperfect, we cannot exist in the presence of a perfect God.  Thankfully, God has another attribute, His mercy.  Because He is just, there must be consequences attached to our actions that because He is merciful, He chose to take the consequences on Himself in the person of Jesus.

God is both just and merciful.  May we always strive to be the same in our dealings with those in our sphere of influence.

Jump!

When I started my journal for this year, I quoted the Scripture “If you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman.” - From Jeremiah 15:19.  After a very long time praying and seeking the Lord, I truly feel that He has called me to communicate His message to those around me, specifically through the written word.  I am not claiming to have any sort of special revelation, or exclusive access to God, far from it.  It is my prayer that through the gifts He has given me, someone may be encouraged, uplifted, blessed or come to a saving knowledge of the Lord.  Please pray for me as I attempt to follow this path; pray that I will not become discouraged and that I will be faithful to God, my family and to you, my potential readers.  Thank you for your kind attention and support;

Sincerely,

Kenny Brown

Non-Weekend Fiction - The Book-Filled Room

I wrote this story based on a scene I remember from a movie.  The strange thing is, that the thing and movie I apparently remember do not seem to actually exist.  I felt ready for a break, but expect more of Oracle this weekend.

The room was small and dark, though not uncomfortably so.  Aside from a desk, chair and reading lamp, there were no other furnishings.  There were however books, hundreds of them all neatly arranged on built-in bookshelves that lined every wall interrupted solely by the door and a window with thick red curtains.

It would be difficult to determine who was startled more; Nicholas, at finding someone in his study or Macy by his unexpected appearance.

“I'm sorry, you startled me;” said Nicholas, his confusion apparent, “forgive my asking, but what are you doing here?”

“I'm not sure, this room, these books...  They all seem so familiar.”

“They should, you spent a lot of time in this room.”

This time, Macy was confused, “What do you mean, I've never been here before.”

Nicholas chuckled softly and spoke kindly.  “Aside from myself, I should imagine that no one has spent more time in this room than you.”

“What is it that you do in here, anyway?”

Nicholas held up a book, identical to the books on the shelves, “I write down the names and descriptions of animals in these tiny books.”

“What animals?”, asked Macy, still incredulous.

“All of them, I'm nearly finished.”

Macy couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity.  “How long have you been working?”

“Not long, only about 3,000 years.”

This time, it was Macy who laughed.  “Only 3,000 years, that seems like quite a long time for a man who looks 30.”

“You should talk, this used to be your job.”

As she wondered at this seemingly absurd notion, she was again startled by a peculiar, loud buzzing.  She inadvertently pressed the snooze button but then paused.  “What a strange dream.”  She thought to herself.

Attributes of God - God is Holy

The holiness of God is quite likely one of the most difficult attributes for us as humans to come to grips with.  To say that someone or something is holy is to say that he, she or it is supremely good, exalted or worthy of complete devotion.  Anyone that is holy is, by definition perfect in goodness and righteousness.  This definition does not fit any person, object or idea that we as humans can interact with in any non-spiritual manner.

Lying beyond the difficulty of simply comprehending what holiness means is the fact that we are incapable of giving our complete devotion to anything.  If we could, we would be unable to maintain our existence.  In this life, we will never truly understand the holiness of God, but in the next we will experience it personally.

Hungry Like the Wolf

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
Psalm 42:1

My soul has been thirsting for the things of this world. I've been thirsting for things that cannot satisfy my thirst. I can think of dozens of excuses for being depressed, but I still have free will. I am still free to choose what I will pursue. When I entertain thoughts that are inappropriate for me, it is my own fault. I am with out excuse.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:20

I am very familiar with creation. I have studied astronomy. I have studied biology. I have studied physics. In all my studies, I have seen God's incredible wisdom and creativity in the design of creation. God's fingerprints are everywhere; from the interactions of molecules to the incredible complexities of mechanics that govern the paths of stars, God's divine design is evident. Being confident of all this, how can I allow my soul to desire anything else?

Attributes of God - God is Faithful

Human beings are not faithful. Sooner or later anyone who depends on other humans will be disappointed. Promises will be broken, feelings will be hurt and hearts left in ruins.  God on the other hand is faithful, completely faithful. God will never… can never break a promise.

God is the healer of hurt feelings. God rebuilds broken hearts. The most faithful things that humans have direct experience with are the laws of physics. Every person alive is familiar with gravity. If you let go of object you're holding you can be certain that it will soon be drawn towards the ground. Leave an ice cube in the hot sun long enough and it will certainly melt. Put your unprotected hand in a flame and it will hurt.

God is more faithful than all of these. God's faithfulness is higher than these physical laws that we cherish. God's faithfulness is far beyond our comprehension. While the universe will eventually pass away, taking our familiar laws with it, God’s word, laws and character will always endure, God is eternally faithful.

The Attributes of God - God is Eternal

We humans get caught up in the idea of eternity. It's confusing. We experience time one day after another. When we try to think of eternity, we imagine an endless string of days compounding into millions and billions of years. I don't know about anyone else, but the idea of spending 8 billion years doing anything sounds horrible.

God does not experience time in this manner; the eternality of God means that He is beyond time. Eternity is not something that we as temporal beings can easily come to grips with. We're simply unable to comprehend the nonexistence of time. We are finite beings and as such are incapable of ompletely understanding what is infinite. The fact that we have any comprehension at all of God is evidence of His reaching out to us.

In the book of Isaiah, Gad says that His ways are not our ways; His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  We can never be completely like God, but we were all created with an eternal component, our soul that will advance to eternity after our time on Earth is complete.  Possessing a proper understanding of and posture toward God will ensure that this eternity is spent with Him rather than apart from Him.

Weekend Fiction - Oracle’s Conversation

Here is chapter 6 of my science-fiction serial Oracle.  I actually finished this chapter ahead of schedule.  Please feel free to offer any comments, suggestions or feedback.  Thanks!

Chapter 6; Oracle’s Conversation

“It’s Cyrus, right?” after a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Melanie decided to break the ice.

“Yes, Cyrus… I'm Cyrus,” unsure what to say next, he continued; “it's nice to see you again.”

The strained conversation was interrupted by the return of the waitress.

“Are y’all about finished with your pie?”

“Yes, and it was great, just like my aunt said.”  Melanie responded.

“Oh, was that your aunt?” asked the waitress, “she's nice; a little bossy though.”

Melanie giggled.  “I guess you could say that.”

“Ya know; I'm awfully sorry about that, sometimes I just call ‘em like I see ‘em and put my foot in my mouth.”

“Don't worry about it; she was being bossy tonight.”  Melanie reassured her.

“I'll just leave the two of you to finish your coffee.” said the waitress, walking away.

Now that the waitress had broken the ice, Cyrus felt more comfortable.  “So, how long have you lived with your aunt?”

“About 2 years now; I moved here for work right after college.”

“She seems nice, sometimes a bit confused though.”

Melanie frowned slightly.  “She had a minor stroke about a year-and-a-half ago; she’s doing really well considering.”

Cyrus was seemingly lost in his thoughts for a moment, and then spoke.  “She’ll be doing better after she starts her new medication.”

“What new medication?”

“The medication her doctor prescribed at her appointment in 6 mon- …” Cyrus’ words trailed to a halt; “I, uh, I shouldn’t say anything else; I’ve said too much already.”

“No, it’s alright; go on, please.” prompted Melanie.

“I really don’t like talking about these types of things…  I just can’t do it; don’t ask me to, please.”

Melanie was beginning to get angry, “Why not?” she demanded.

“Because she’s going to die!”  Heads turned as Cyrus blurted, more loudly than he had intended.

“How could you know that; how could anyone?”

“I’ve seen it! “ Cyrus pointed to his head, “Up here!”

Melanie responded with one word, spoken firmly, “When?”

“I, I don’t know…”  Cyrus paused, “not for another 10 or 15 years.”

“How do you know you’re not wrong?”  Melanie asked.

“I never have been.” Cryus spoke clinically, without emotion.

“How do you do it?”  Melanie still sounded incredulous.

“I don’t know,” Cyrus continued, “but I hate it.”

“How can you say that?  You have a gift, it’s wonderful.”

“No, you don’t understand…” Cyrus searched for the right words, “Everyone is going to die; and I can see it, when, how…”

“What about me?”  Melanie pressed.

“I don’t know…” Cyrus paused, “It different with you; I can’t tell you your future.”

“You can’t, or you won’t?”

“I can’t; I don’t know why.”  Cyrus didn’t know what else to say.  “I just can’t see anything when I look at you; I can’t see anything but… you.”

Melanie was determined to solve the mystery; “Has this ever happened before; with anyone else?”

“No, it’s never happened with anyone else… well; no one else but me.” Cyrus confessed.

Melanie started to respond, but there didn’t seem to be anything else to say.  Cyrus spoke next.  “We should go, it’s about to get pretty crowded in here.”

He got up from the table and Melanie followed his lead.  As they reached the register, Melanie reached for her wallet.  “Let me, please;” Cyrus asked, “I don’t get to spend money very often.”  As he signed his name on the credit card slip, nobody noticed Cyrus adding a $1000 tip.

“Goodnight ya’ll” the waitress said, as yet unaware of her good fortune.

As they walked out, a crowd of around 20 people, freshly emerged from the theatre next door entered the restaurant.  “Can I give you a ride back to your… car?”  Melanie faltered as Cyrus’ car pulled up.  Her confusion grew as he went to the driver’s side door.

“No thanks; it looks like I’ve got a ride already.”

“I guess I’ll see you later then; goodnight.”

“Take care, Melanie.”

Cyrus closed the door.  “Ezra, let’s go home.”

“Very good sir.”