revenge

So...I was listening to this song from Jon Foreman again this morning. Probably one of my favorites from him. I thought I would share the lyrics...I think one of the best views on the crucifixion of Christ. It's from the view of the thief that gets ransomed at the end. Love it.
Enjoy.

I'm the failure, I'm everyone's fool
and I am losing my cool at the ends
I'm the loser, my number has come up
I have been hung up with thoughts of revenge.

I watched you from my terminal view
As you struggled to rise to your end
I laughed hard at the insults we threw
As the weight of the world found revenge.

How hatred and gravity won.

The world hung upside down
I drew first blood, I drew first blood.
With my hate for a crown
I drew first blood, I drew first blood...revenge.

I watched heaven dying today
And I'm gonna die here tonight
I'm the villain, I deserve to be dead
I've been hung up for wreaking my life...revenge.

So I stopped for a moment to look at the Son
Dying today
That's when the irony hit me
This was revenge, that Love had descended and stolen our pain away.

We consumed heaven's Son and I drew first blood.
My hate was undone, I drew first blood. Revenge.

Here's a story how a thief had been robbed
How a murder had stolen my rage
Think of me, Lord, I'm a few breaths away
As my lungs finally rip from the cage

Revenge

tongue

Reading the Word this morning, my devotion was focused on Ephesians 5 and devotion to your spouse. Do you remember the vows you spoke to your wife? Have you reviewed them lately and determined through introspection whether you are keeping those vows? Just a quick thought and I knew I have failed in at least one area. Put the emphasis on at least. That area is my words. How do I speak to my wife? Am I pleasant at all times? Do I speak well of her to others? Do I stand by her? Wow...tough questions for a Saturday. :)

But, thinking in this area about how I talk to her and how I speak of her brought me to James 3. James talks about taming the tongue and how we can tame so many things, but not the tongue. How we can praise the Lord and yet curse men who are created in God's image with the same mouth. Ouch. Read that passage here.

I also want to share a couple of things that are in the Bibles I use. Typically I use my Men's Study Bible when I am studying the Word...it is a Promise Keepers Bible that I purchased years ago and really enjoy it. But here is an excerpt from a commentary on that part of scripture:

In this short passage, James bluntly addresses the issue of our
speech. Have you ever realized what a potentially wicked thing that little
muscle in your mouth is?
Make no mistake about it - the words you speak are powerful beyond
imagination. They expand or limit your friendships. They can make or
break your career opportunities. If you're married, they'll determine
the quality of your marriage. If you're a father, they'll shape your
children. (Emphasis mine.)
A godly man recognizes the tongue's power to build up or to tear
down. But the tongue only shapes the words that originate in our hearts
and minds. Hearts that are controlled by the Spirit's power will produce
speech that builds others up instead of tearing them down. In other words,
if we want to control our tongues, we must ask God to help us control our
hearts.

Good stuff there. In another commentary on this portion of scripture it talks about how an uncontrolled tongue can cause serious damage. It can divide people and pit them against each other...I have seen this recently. It has even affected how I see others because of what I have heard about them or heard that they have said something to others. The thing is...once something is said or heard, it cannot be taken back. Nicole at one point as a teacher has mentioned this to her students in an exercise where they squeeze out tooth paste out of a tube and then tell them to put it back in. You can't. Once words are spoken, they cannot be taken back. You can ask forgiveness, but the damage already happened and scars could remain even though there may be forgiveness.

Something to think about there. I need to control my mouth...watch how I talk to my wife and kids...and I can only do that with God's help...with my tongue and my heart. Hopefully this encourages someone else as well. Let's fight to get our hearts and tongues in the proper place.

-R

painted deserts

Nice, snowy spring weather we are having right now!  Thunder snow storms!  Gotta love Oklahoma.

I just wanted to share a few quotes from the book I just finished, 'Through Painted Deserts', by Donald Miller.  Good book, easy read, funny and thought provoking.  These are a couple of things that caught me during the read:

"Many cities, these days, seem to have people living on the surface of life but hardly in its soil, diluting the deeper questions of life in television monologues and reality shows, amusing ourselves to death, as Neil Postman would say." [If you don't know who Neil Postman is, check out this link.]

"I start thinking again about what Paul was saying, about how we have to submit to whatever God has us on this journey for, about how we just have to agree that it is all His.  And I know God made stars and friends and love and poetry to dazzle us, but there really is a part of me that wants some freedom, that doesn't want to have to do everything right or be religious anymore.  It's not a serious struggle, but it's like I said about how and why questions, when you know the why, you are just kind of trapped, and when you only ask how and never ask why, you can be happy and ignorant.  Even if God is taking the cosmos somewhere good, I begin to wonder what He does with folks who just want out."

""Yeah,", Paul confesses.  "I guess I am.  Nothing deep, really, just that, you know, I know you have been thinking about things and I just feel like God has put us here to enjoy Him, and He gave us free will so it is tough sometimes, because people use their free will selfishly, but I think also He created us to enjoy Him, that He is love, you know, and I would just hate to see you walk away from that.  I mean, if He were love and all.""

[Standing in the mountains of Oregon watching the sun rise.]

"And if these mountains had eyes, they would wake to find two strangers in their fences, standing in admiration as a breathing red pours its tinge upon earth's shores.  These mountains, which have seen untold sunrises, long to thunder praise but stand reverent, silent so that man's weak praise should be given God's attention.

It is a wonder that those exposed to such beauty forfeit the great questions in the face of this miraculous evidence.  I think again about this small period of grace, and thank God for it, that if only for a season, I could feel the why of life, see it in the metaphor of light, in the endlessness of the cosmos, in the miracle of friendship.  And had these mountains the ability to reason, perhaps they would contemplate the beauty of humanity, and praise God for the miracle that each of us is, pondering the majesty of God and the wonder of man in one bewildering context."

Anyway...good stuff from a good book.  Check it out...check out the links...enjoy.

-r