We have all heard the details of the Aurora Movie Massacre. Like most other Americans, I was initially repulsed at the heinousness of the crime and angry at the murderer who had taken so many lives with calculated cruelty. I've wondered and speculated and philosophized on what could possibly possess someone to do what James Holmes did. At first I reasoned that this is simply a demonstration of the corruptness of our flesh and the natural end of an unredeemed life. However, as more details about James Holmes have emerged in the past couple of days, my family and I have developed a different theory.
The dramatic transformation in James Holmes over the past few months is becoming well-documented: from his dropping out of graduate school to his gradual withdrawal from society to his apparently sudden decision to plot the massacre at Aurora Theater. This evening, I was watching Fox News when the owner of a shooting range to which Mr. Holmes applied for membership was interviewed. The owner had attempted to contact Holmes after Holmes applied for membership at the shooting range. The owner only reached his voicemail recording. He described the message as all but impossible to interpret. He reported that Holmes spoke in a deep, guttural voice making incomprehensible sounds.
This morning, Holmes appeared in court for his initial hearing. This was his first public appearance since he stood in the theater parking lot. I was impressed by how frightened and exhausted he looked. He did not look like a crazed killer. The juxtaposition of his appearance this morning with his originally publicized picture revealed something essentially different about James Holmes.
I now genuinely believe that the answer to my question of "what could possibly possess someone to act as James Holmes did" is literally a question of what possessed him. The details that have emerged in the past two days align with Scripture's description of demoniacs.
I believe that James Holmes was demon-possessed when he shot seventy people in the Century 16 theater. I believed that the demon has now departed, having succeeded at destroying seventy-one lives.
My heart breaks for this soul - a soul who is clearly guilty of first-degree murder - but a soul who may have been completely under the control of the enemy.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)
Mr. Holmes's trial will focus solely on the question of whether he will face the death penalty. I don't believe that there will be sufficient evidence to prove that he is guilty by reason of insanity. How appropriate that the demon appears to have left him now, perhaps leaving him lucid and more sane than insane!
Why should we be surprised at the idea that James Holmes was driven by Satan to kill seventy people? Jesus said that the enemy has come to kill and steal and destroy.
Of course, this idea is foolishness to the world. But as my family considered this idea, we were impressed with the necessity for a pastor - rather, many pastors - to attempt to visit him and talk to him as soon as possible.
The focus of the media is on the victims of this tragedy, as is appropriate. But please, followers of Christ who have mercifully been rescued from the bondage of sin and the controlling power of Satan, pray for James Holmes. Pray that God will send men to Him who will preach truth and life and salvation. Pray that this soul will be redeemed and restored.
If Mr. Holmes is fortunate enough to only receive life in jail for his crime, it will be more important than ever that a concerted effort be made by pastors to preach the truth to this dying soul. He is in need of healing and compassion, as we all are apart from Jesus Christ.
“‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’” (John 10:10)
Monday, July 23, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Today's Holocaust
An interview came out today with a man who escaped from a North Korean concentration camp. He is one of only three people on earth who can boast this accomplishment.
Shin Dong-hyuk was born in Camp 14, the labor camp for political dissidents located south of Pyongyang. Political dissent is punished to the third generation in North Korea. Shin lived the first twenty-two years of his life in utter oppression. He was raised by prison guards, not parents. He feasted on corn kernels found in cow dung, because this topped starvation. His mother and brother were executed before his eyes, but he felt no sense of guilt. He’d been raised by prison guards and had no sense of family; his only instinct was survival.
This report hit home for two reasons:
I skipped Western Civilization class today.
PHC is mobilizing to do something about this horror story.
We’ve reached World War II in our study of Western Civilization. A discussion of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany should not be separated from the study of World War II. Today the class watched a movie that showed in graphic and plain detail the human carnage of the Holocaust. Having been exposed to documentation of these atrocities multiple times, I took advantage of my professor’s willingness to excuse any absences from the showing of this movie. I already know that we cannot let a Holocaust occur again.
Two hundred thousand people are in concentration camps in North Korea.
Are we letting it happen again?
I am no policy maker. I am no international relations expert. But I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I believe that the United States must do something.
Bringing me to reason two.
I’ve become friends with a student who took spent some time in South Korea last semester. The Lord has given her a heart for the Korean people, particularly the North Koreans. She is organizing a project that will be run by PHC to raise awareness about the atrocities the North Korean government is committing and to lobby for the U.S. government to take action. I am hopeful that the Lord is going to use this project to begin to remedy the North Korean situation.
This weekend, there will be a national call to worship in North Korea. Every citizen will be ordered to worship Kim Jong-un. There are Christians in North Korea.
This weekend, our brothers and sisters will be faced with the decision that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced in Babylon. They will have to choose to worship the state and bow to a false god or abstain and face almost certain death and torture.
Pray for our brothers and sisters in North Korea. Pray that the U.S. government will respond to Shin Dong-hyuk’s story appropriately. Pray for the North Korean government to relent. Pray for the perseverance of the poor people trapped in concentration camps. Pray that the Lord would be glorified through this project at PHC.
I skipped class today because I am aware of what happened in Nazi Germany. But we learn about this tragedy in order to prevent something like it from happening again.
It’s happening in North Korea.
Shin Dong-hyuk was born in Camp 14, the labor camp for political dissidents located south of Pyongyang. Political dissent is punished to the third generation in North Korea. Shin lived the first twenty-two years of his life in utter oppression. He was raised by prison guards, not parents. He feasted on corn kernels found in cow dung, because this topped starvation. His mother and brother were executed before his eyes, but he felt no sense of guilt. He’d been raised by prison guards and had no sense of family; his only instinct was survival.
This report hit home for two reasons:
I skipped Western Civilization class today.
PHC is mobilizing to do something about this horror story.
We’ve reached World War II in our study of Western Civilization. A discussion of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany should not be separated from the study of World War II. Today the class watched a movie that showed in graphic and plain detail the human carnage of the Holocaust. Having been exposed to documentation of these atrocities multiple times, I took advantage of my professor’s willingness to excuse any absences from the showing of this movie. I already know that we cannot let a Holocaust occur again.
Two hundred thousand people are in concentration camps in North Korea.
Are we letting it happen again?
I am no policy maker. I am no international relations expert. But I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I believe that the United States must do something.
Bringing me to reason two.
I’ve become friends with a student who took spent some time in South Korea last semester. The Lord has given her a heart for the Korean people, particularly the North Koreans. She is organizing a project that will be run by PHC to raise awareness about the atrocities the North Korean government is committing and to lobby for the U.S. government to take action. I am hopeful that the Lord is going to use this project to begin to remedy the North Korean situation.
This weekend, there will be a national call to worship in North Korea. Every citizen will be ordered to worship Kim Jong-un. There are Christians in North Korea.
This weekend, our brothers and sisters will be faced with the decision that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced in Babylon. They will have to choose to worship the state and bow to a false god or abstain and face almost certain death and torture.
Pray for our brothers and sisters in North Korea. Pray that the U.S. government will respond to Shin Dong-hyuk’s story appropriately. Pray for the North Korean government to relent. Pray for the perseverance of the poor people trapped in concentration camps. Pray that the Lord would be glorified through this project at PHC.
I skipped class today because I am aware of what happened in Nazi Germany. But we learn about this tragedy in order to prevent something like it from happening again.
It’s happening in North Korea.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Vision
This week brought Biblical Emphasis Week and and Pastor Matt Ristuccia to campus. Pastor Ristuccia’s been working us through Ezekiel, and it has blown my mind. We’ll make this brief, because I am overwhelmed by the power and majesty of King Jesus...
...
... And I should be writing a paper.
Ezekiel has four visions throughout the course of the book. The first is of the earth, seraphim, and the Lord Jesus appearing in the form of a human reigning above and controlling it all. The second is of the removal of God’s glory from the temple in Jerusalem. The third is the famous dry bones vision. The fourth describes a river flowing from the south side of the new Temple depicting the flow of grace that would come from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The human mind has three faculties: will, reason, and imagination. Pastor Ristuccia has argued that the Lord provides visions in the Bible to recapture the imagination of the prophet and the audience.
Imagination is powerful. It allows us to picture what is invisible. Of course, it can be used for evil, but a biblically centered imagination can provide vitality to our walk with Christ and unending awe at His splendor.
Pastor Ristuccia advocated the memorization of the prophetic visions in Scripture so that they are readily available to help us take every thought captive to Christ and use our imagination in a moral and beneficial manner. Though I had never seriously considered memorizing passages like Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, such visions were originally given to provide the people with hope. Hope in the power of Christ’s resurrection and gospel has not lost any relevance.
I leave you with the first two visions I want to memorize:
Revelation 21:1-6
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer by any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’
And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’
Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.’”
Revelation 22:1-5
“Then he showed me a river if the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them and they will reign forever and ever.”
May I keep these visions in the forefront of my mind throughout the day. May the pictures that my imagination conjures based on these words cause me to simply live in awe of the Great I AM.
SDG
...
... And I should be writing a paper.
Ezekiel has four visions throughout the course of the book. The first is of the earth, seraphim, and the Lord Jesus appearing in the form of a human reigning above and controlling it all. The second is of the removal of God’s glory from the temple in Jerusalem. The third is the famous dry bones vision. The fourth describes a river flowing from the south side of the new Temple depicting the flow of grace that would come from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The human mind has three faculties: will, reason, and imagination. Pastor Ristuccia has argued that the Lord provides visions in the Bible to recapture the imagination of the prophet and the audience.
Imagination is powerful. It allows us to picture what is invisible. Of course, it can be used for evil, but a biblically centered imagination can provide vitality to our walk with Christ and unending awe at His splendor.
Pastor Ristuccia advocated the memorization of the prophetic visions in Scripture so that they are readily available to help us take every thought captive to Christ and use our imagination in a moral and beneficial manner. Though I had never seriously considered memorizing passages like Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, such visions were originally given to provide the people with hope. Hope in the power of Christ’s resurrection and gospel has not lost any relevance.
I leave you with the first two visions I want to memorize:
Revelation 21:1-6
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer by any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’
And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’
Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.’”
Revelation 22:1-5
“Then he showed me a river if the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them and they will reign forever and ever.”
May I keep these visions in the forefront of my mind throughout the day. May the pictures that my imagination conjures based on these words cause me to simply live in awe of the Great I AM.
SDG
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Aristotelian Insight
And I thought Constitutional Law was tough. Philosophy class has stretched, challenged, twisted, contorted, and drained my mental capacities from the first opening of the twenty-pound (I exaggerate slightly) textbook.
I have been dragged along by my red high heels by a professor whose IQ must approach 190. I am aware that Einstein's IQ was 189.
The most challenging aspect of this class is not purely mental or academic, however, but it is spiritual. Reading the writings of some of the greatest minds that Western Civilization has beheld has made me acutely aware of all of the things I have not resolved and reasoned through. From St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument to Acquinas‘ examination of the will to the inquiries of Aristotle and St. Augustine into the nature of time and its relation to the First Mover and therefore the nature of His sovereignty, there are copious matters that I need to work through in the next six and a half semesters. The beauty of a classical liberal arts education. :)
I am amazed by the faculty of reason that God has entrusted to man. Reason can get man so painfully close but so vitally distant from an accurate perception of the nature of God. I’ve found the thoughts of Aristotle to be most illustrative of this idea.
Aristotle promoted a particular concept known as the Intentionality of the Mind. Is his discussion of Plato’s theory of dualism, Aristotle reasons that the mind must be spirit, because it is able to take the form of whatever is is thinking.
With this philosophical backdrop, the Apostle Paul exhorted the believers in Romans 12 to not be conformed any longer to the ways of this world but be transformed according to the renewing of their minds. If Aristotle was accurate in determining that the mind can actually form to its thoughts, this is revolutionary to the understanding of Romans 12.
This is nothing original or particularly profound, but I was encouraged by the usefulness of seemingly “secular” learning to spiritual development. Acquinas had it right: all truth is God’s truth.
I have been dragged along by my red high heels by a professor whose IQ must approach 190. I am aware that Einstein's IQ was 189.
The most challenging aspect of this class is not purely mental or academic, however, but it is spiritual. Reading the writings of some of the greatest minds that Western Civilization has beheld has made me acutely aware of all of the things I have not resolved and reasoned through. From St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument to Acquinas‘ examination of the will to the inquiries of Aristotle and St. Augustine into the nature of time and its relation to the First Mover and therefore the nature of His sovereignty, there are copious matters that I need to work through in the next six and a half semesters. The beauty of a classical liberal arts education. :)
I am amazed by the faculty of reason that God has entrusted to man. Reason can get man so painfully close but so vitally distant from an accurate perception of the nature of God. I’ve found the thoughts of Aristotle to be most illustrative of this idea.
Aristotle promoted a particular concept known as the Intentionality of the Mind. Is his discussion of Plato’s theory of dualism, Aristotle reasons that the mind must be spirit, because it is able to take the form of whatever is is thinking.
With this philosophical backdrop, the Apostle Paul exhorted the believers in Romans 12 to not be conformed any longer to the ways of this world but be transformed according to the renewing of their minds. If Aristotle was accurate in determining that the mind can actually form to its thoughts, this is revolutionary to the understanding of Romans 12.
This is nothing original or particularly profound, but I was encouraged by the usefulness of seemingly “secular” learning to spiritual development. Acquinas had it right: all truth is God’s truth.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Reality
Over Christmas break I started, albeit - “started” - The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. I don’t give myself enough credit: I read half of The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.
Almost four years ago I had a conversation about heaven with my then-youth pastor. Fearful of the concept of eternity and really impressed that existence in heaven would be less than satisfactory, my concept of eternity was completely revolutionized by my pastor when he explained that you could actually feel heaven. It was tangible. It was as real as earth. The Book of Life was an actual book. The food was real food. The water was wet. This blew my mind.
Evidently, this same idea had astounded Lewis many years before in a much more profound, eloquent, and penetrating manner. In The Great Divorce, Lewis describes heaven as infinitely more real than earth or anything else that the visitors from hell had ever seen.
I Corinthians 13:12
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”
The past eight weeks have felt surreal. I hit the ground sprinting immediately upon returning from Christmas break. For the purpose of anyone who cares whom I do not stay in regular contact with, I have:
Found a church! Praise the Lord.
Weathered six basketball road trips and multiple other games and practices.
Become the lead attorney for a PHC Varsity Mock Trial team... Before beholding a trial.
Endured multiple nine-hour stints in the same classroom for mock trial-ling.
Had my pride come to a fall by slipping on icy stairs.
Developed a cyst in my wrist from said incident with the stairs.
Participated in a mock trial tournament at the University of Maryland, and getting the chance to continue on to the opening round of the national tournament in South Carolina.
By the grace of God, made it through these first insane weeks with tolerable grades.
Panicked excessively and deeply over the thought of a Sadie Hawkins Dance.
Mustered up my courage to ask a gentleman to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.
Survived the shock of him actually accepting.
Hopped on board a student body president and vice-president campaign.
Watched my two worlds pleasantly collide with the visit of my parents to PHC.
All in all, lived a survival mode type of semester while constantly fighting this survival mode.
Going through the motions impairs our perception of reality. The things of enduring value - the Lord, relationships, etc. - can quickly become illusive when we are constantly striving to reach the next temporal goal.
More than anything in the past eight weeks, I have become increasingly aware of the reality of Christ and the reality of His Gospel. In Him and His Gospel are my purpose; they are the reason I exist. “He determined the times set for them and the exact places they should live” for “in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17)
I pray that I will seek the Lord’s face every time a commitment-decision must be made. I seek to live the reality that He has determined, because in the following of His will is He the most glorified.
My hope is to press on in the works before me in anticipation of His coming, trusting that my menial endeavors are either preparation for some future events and are simply the way that my life can currently reflect the most of His glory.
This hope is purifying. This hope is sanctifying. The hope of His appearance is our goal.
I John 3:2-3
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is, and everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
When I feel that I am struggling to surface and missing what is “real,” I remember that He is real. He is more real than anything on this earth. He alone is worthy of my focused attention. He is good enough to promise that one day I too will discover what it is to be truly real.
And one day, I will behold Him in His perfect reality.
Almost four years ago I had a conversation about heaven with my then-youth pastor. Fearful of the concept of eternity and really impressed that existence in heaven would be less than satisfactory, my concept of eternity was completely revolutionized by my pastor when he explained that you could actually feel heaven. It was tangible. It was as real as earth. The Book of Life was an actual book. The food was real food. The water was wet. This blew my mind.
Evidently, this same idea had astounded Lewis many years before in a much more profound, eloquent, and penetrating manner. In The Great Divorce, Lewis describes heaven as infinitely more real than earth or anything else that the visitors from hell had ever seen.
I Corinthians 13:12
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”
The past eight weeks have felt surreal. I hit the ground sprinting immediately upon returning from Christmas break. For the purpose of anyone who cares whom I do not stay in regular contact with, I have:
Found a church! Praise the Lord.
Weathered six basketball road trips and multiple other games and practices.
Become the lead attorney for a PHC Varsity Mock Trial team... Before beholding a trial.
Endured multiple nine-hour stints in the same classroom for mock trial-ling.
Had my pride come to a fall by slipping on icy stairs.
Developed a cyst in my wrist from said incident with the stairs.
Participated in a mock trial tournament at the University of Maryland, and getting the chance to continue on to the opening round of the national tournament in South Carolina.
By the grace of God, made it through these first insane weeks with tolerable grades.
Panicked excessively and deeply over the thought of a Sadie Hawkins Dance.
Mustered up my courage to ask a gentleman to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.
Survived the shock of him actually accepting.
Hopped on board a student body president and vice-president campaign.
Watched my two worlds pleasantly collide with the visit of my parents to PHC.
All in all, lived a survival mode type of semester while constantly fighting this survival mode.
Going through the motions impairs our perception of reality. The things of enduring value - the Lord, relationships, etc. - can quickly become illusive when we are constantly striving to reach the next temporal goal.
More than anything in the past eight weeks, I have become increasingly aware of the reality of Christ and the reality of His Gospel. In Him and His Gospel are my purpose; they are the reason I exist. “He determined the times set for them and the exact places they should live” for “in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17)
I pray that I will seek the Lord’s face every time a commitment-decision must be made. I seek to live the reality that He has determined, because in the following of His will is He the most glorified.
My hope is to press on in the works before me in anticipation of His coming, trusting that my menial endeavors are either preparation for some future events and are simply the way that my life can currently reflect the most of His glory.
This hope is purifying. This hope is sanctifying. The hope of His appearance is our goal.
I John 3:2-3
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is, and everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
When I feel that I am struggling to surface and missing what is “real,” I remember that He is real. He is more real than anything on this earth. He alone is worthy of my focused attention. He is good enough to promise that one day I too will discover what it is to be truly real.
And one day, I will behold Him in His perfect reality.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
That Special Day?
My I-survived-finals reward to myself was to get a Pintrest. I managed to justify this by explaining to my better conscience that I don’t have any way to be inspired in the area of home decorating, being artsy, fashion, etc. Such dearths must certainly be remedied.
So I proceeded to remedy... For one hour in the first setting.
Poorly done, Katie. Poorly done.
In the midst of repinning, it is impossible to overlook the fact that almost every girl on Pintrest has an entire Board and hours of thought devoted to none other than one twenty-four hour span... Her wedding day.
I wonder how many dollars are spent on American weddings each year...
What an incredible and blessed day, but what an inadequate representation of a marriage- an event that continues on until death do us part. Our minds jump to the wedding day but forget the marriage it begins.
May my focus be not on a dress I’ll wear once nor on a cake my guests will consume in thirty minutes nor on the venue nor on colors... May my focus be on the demeanor I’ll wear every day of marriage, the food I’ll prepare to serve my man, and the home I will make for his comfort and pleasure.
Marriage bells are ringing. :)
So I proceeded to remedy... For one hour in the first setting.
Poorly done, Katie. Poorly done.
In the midst of repinning, it is impossible to overlook the fact that almost every girl on Pintrest has an entire Board and hours of thought devoted to none other than one twenty-four hour span... Her wedding day.
I wonder how many dollars are spent on American weddings each year...
What an incredible and blessed day, but what an inadequate representation of a marriage- an event that continues on until death do us part. Our minds jump to the wedding day but forget the marriage it begins.
May my focus be not on a dress I’ll wear once nor on a cake my guests will consume in thirty minutes nor on the venue nor on colors... May my focus be on the demeanor I’ll wear every day of marriage, the food I’ll prepare to serve my man, and the home I will make for his comfort and pleasure.
Marriage bells are ringing. :)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Aslan's Country
C.S. Lewis was brilliant. People could write theses on this idea, but I'm working on brevity from now on.
My little brother and I watched "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" last night. At the end of the movie, Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Reepicheep paddle onto the shore of Aslan's Country. It's a beautiful representation of heaven and the way that "noble hearts" should desire the Promise Land. Every tear will be wiped away, we'll be forever freed from the presence of sin. Clothed in immortality, we will walk with God Himself.
"'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7) "Paradise of God" literally meaning the abode of God, to be in His presence, and to be where the Lord is.
What if I lived life longing to set my eyes on Aslan's Country? What if my sole desire was to see the Country from which the Baby in the manger came and to which He returned as victorious Savior?
What if my only goal was to ennoble my heart, following the Lord into adventures in this world, that I might soon see His Country?
"...forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.... Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself." (Philippians 3:13-14, 20-21)
Press on, my soul. Press on that more might desire to see Aslan's Country. Press on.
My little brother and I watched "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" last night. At the end of the movie, Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Reepicheep paddle onto the shore of Aslan's Country. It's a beautiful representation of heaven and the way that "noble hearts" should desire the Promise Land. Every tear will be wiped away, we'll be forever freed from the presence of sin. Clothed in immortality, we will walk with God Himself.
"'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7) "Paradise of God" literally meaning the abode of God, to be in His presence, and to be where the Lord is.
What if I lived life longing to set my eyes on Aslan's Country? What if my sole desire was to see the Country from which the Baby in the manger came and to which He returned as victorious Savior?
What if my only goal was to ennoble my heart, following the Lord into adventures in this world, that I might soon see His Country?
"...forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.... Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself." (Philippians 3:13-14, 20-21)
Press on, my soul. Press on that more might desire to see Aslan's Country. Press on.
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