Hosea
Derek Webb has been gifted in writing songs that make you want to wretch all of your insides for being so wicked. It isnt simply accusatory, it is beautifully poignant, true, and ecumenical to everyone, includeing himself. And they aren’t just protest songs that invoke thought, they are “Oh My God, what have I done, something is wrong, who can fix this?” sort of songs. I have never heard the gospel presented in such an unapologetic way. It is refreshing.
These lines are from his song, Wedding Dress (I dont know if I’m suppossed to ask for permission before I just post this, but at least I credited him).
“i am a whore i do confess
but i put you on just like a wedding dress
and i run down the aisle
i’m a prodigal with no way home
but i put you on just like a ring of gold
and i run down the aisle to you
so could you love this bastard child
though i don’t trust you to provide
with one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side
i am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers less wild
that i would take a little cash
over your very flesh and blood”
And yet in Hosea, after we His people prositute ourselves to other gods and idols, to the seeking after fleshy lusts, popular esteem, abundance, and power, and deservedly incur the wrath of True Justice, He shows His love and grace upon us.
“Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. ” –Hosea 6:1-6 (NKJV)
Simply cutting off the hand that causes us to sin, or gouging out the eye that causes us to lust, is not purely the answer for these are sacrificial. Consistant tithing and donations, revoking cable and internet, or attending AA meetings aren’t enough. We can never be good enough, even if compared to other fallen heads we seem better than they. “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV). Simply saying it isn’t enough.
For what then, is our hope?
I am battle weary and fatigued. Constant attack from my own, traitourous body (Romans 7: 14-20), and long for the peace of God to be with me. To no longer feel the effects of a broken world. But I will. And you will. And there isn’t anyway out for our choosing. So I ask again, for what then is our hope?
The Risen One, Jesus Christ.
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NKJV).
And finally brethren, and those whom tary from the arms of Christ, I offer the words of the Spirit through Paul: “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5 NKJV).
Can we take off the doubt and the shame the whore us away from the Lord, laying aside every encumberance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and endure the race set before us? Not without Jesus. “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
Second Wave
“Do you think The Girls will try anything tonight?” “…Probably.”
“Put out those lights!” “Lock the doors and shut those blinds, dangit!”
“Is that an airsoft gun? Sweet.” “Hey, hand me that bat.” “What about the badminton racket?”
Ready and poised, the men at the Arbour House prepared for the enemy’s offensive attack. How could they launch an assault so soon after their previous one? Why would they not conceal their identities with any more intelligence than they were doing?
The Arbour House sits on a corner, providing several fronts for a potential siege, yet consequently with a good field of view for surveillance. With their amateurish attempts of passing the house to scope for our presence, the girls gave themselves away. They were spotted long before their white SUV even parked.
The Men watched as the Girls’ rookie prankster, freshly recruited to the Axis of Evil, known enigmatically as Emma Bennet, boldly marched to the front door, taking no measures to conceal herself as she left their fancy scrapbooked note. With a single roll of TP, “Megan”, began her feeble attempt to wrap…an already wrapped tree. Possibly realizing her blunder, The Men watched as she made her way around to the East side of the Arbour Complex.
“Get the door, we charge her here.”
One of our team reached the door and quietly undid the latch. “Ready…GO!”
“AAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Mighty bellows from The Men erupted, as they charged the enemy white SUV with baseball bats and fists held high. “GET ON OUTTA HERE!”
The stoutest one of the group even out ran the rookie to her car door, where he got a clear eyeball identification of the other attackers, who cowardly let their junior member sacrifice her anonymity with a foolishly planned attack.
Later, another member of the Axis of Evil buzzed the house in her red vehicle. At one point she even gave herself away by honking! The counter-attack was the same. Men charged and gave mighty yells of assured victory.
As the red car sped off, she almost hit one of the men with her vehicle, proving, not only did The Girls plan this attack with too many mistakes, but that women drivers are unsafe.
“All I’m sayin is that according to the Bible, payback is Hell.”
Stay posted for more narrative of the pranking war. http://journeymen.wordpress.com/
Who is like Him, the Lion and the Lamb?
Who is this king you keep babbling about? Why do Christians worship this man that died 2000 years ago?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” –John 1:1-5
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God.” Deuteronomy 32:1,3
I love to watch in the mornings as His sunrise bathes the land with its warmth. The trees and the lawns are plated in gold.
And I look up into the stars at night, the beauty that captivates all men for all generations, and I wonder at His magnificence! And I question, like David: Who are we? Who is man that He would consider us (Psalm 8: 3-5)? We were made last after the heavens and creation were prepared. For His glory He made man.
He is the sweetest poet writing the sweetest sonnet. He romances His people. He woos them with His longsuffering, goodness, and forbearance. He fights for us. With fury, He picks up sword and shield to ransom His beloved from the enemy. Since creation He, our King Most High, has been our champion. Our victor.
But Oh how His beloved is disobedient! How wicked and ungrateful are His people. We reject His voice. We reject His existence! How blind and foolish are we His people. And how horrid will be our punishment. In the hands of the enemy we cast ourselves in disregard to our Creator.
Oh let us awake Zion! Let us set forth from iniquity Tongue, Tribe, and Nation! Do you not see our sin? Do you not see how we rebel from our king whom saved us from the maw of Sheol? Shake off the dust and arise, my soul! Give glory and honour and praise to the Most High King, the Lord God.
My King! Grant me discipline and steadfastness to endure the enemie’s attacks. Grant me faith so that I may obey your commands, my just redeemer!
How quickly I leave the Lord! How I have put my shield down and was lured, seduced, enticed into the clutches of sin. So hypnotized by the harlot; His soldiers forsake Him. Like men we think not of whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. We think of ourselves. We think not of His death and Resurrection. We think not of what it took for Him to redeem our souls, and so we leave the race and run off the path to the harlot who whispers sweet promises of vanity in our ears. She has laid her bed with Egyptian linens, myrrh, and cinnamon.
And the battle is weary! Would it be less if we, His people, weren’t prone to wonder from the refuge of His wings?
His joy is not a supplement. It is not to compliment our lives with utility. It sustains us! His grace feeds and nourishes the weak-hearted. By His grace we obtain the joy to our souls He provides through knowledge of Him. Breath is a gift. Joy is a gift. Repentance is a gift. We are rightly instructed for He, our God, teaches us.
This is the Lord God. This is our Creator. This is Jesus Christ. All praises to His name alone forever and ever.
Nothing but His grace.
Let us say you have a girlfriend (I am a guy so I say girlfriend. Just transpose the gender if you’re a girl. It shouldn’t be hard, society transposes gender everyday…). Her name is Beautiful. Now lets say that Mocking and Foolish, two popular guys, star-athletes and well respected by the world, come up to Beautiful and slap her. They spit in her face they call her fat and ugly, they cut her flesh and they torment her. We could go further and say that Mr. Worldly comes and joins Mocking and Foolish in the activities. Now Beautiful is raped and her friends are murdered because they know you. That’s central, it’s because they know you and love you. What is your first reaction? I bet it is extreme wrath.
Does this seem too surreal? Too extreme and unrealistic? Then why does it happen every single day since the beginning of time!?
God has a bride, more than a girlfriend, but a companion inseparable. That bride is the Christian church, the body of believers that live out the faith they profess. No not the buildings. No not one denomination over another though there are some with a higher population of believers over others. And every day believers are mocked, killed, and debased because they love the Most High King. Christians arent killed everyday , you fanatic! Where do we throw them into arenas with gladiators and starving lions like back in the day? Where are they persecuted for knowing your king?
Go to…well, anywhere…and open your eyes! Go to Tibet and China and see how the underground church is hunted and sought after for denying the claims of atheistic communism or demonic Buddhism. Go to the middle east where our very ancestral brothers blow themselves up in the name of Islam and wage jihad on the infidels. What is an infidel? Christians and Jews especially, hated ever since Isaac was chosen over Ishmael (Genesis 17:17-21).
You don’t even have to go that far. Listen to the news. See how there is constant debate over the authenticity of Christianity. Watch the Discovery Channel or the National Geographic Channel as they capitalize on the doubts and criticisms of Christ with the “gospels” of heretical gnostics. Look at the cars that drive by. Some will have an outline of a fish with the name Jesus in English or Greek inside. This fish is a historical symbol to the church, it’s an identifier. Now look again and see the fish with feet and the name “Darwin” in the outline. It is bitterness and nastiness, it is the world defying their king!
And this attack will only get worse. More and more people will turn away from the Lord God in disgust because His message does not allow for them to live the lifestyle of iniquity that they wish. “Rev.” Jeffery John, homosexual bishop of the Anglican Church, refuses to believe in the very center, the apex, of Christianity. He refuses to believe that God would send His only son to die on the cross to redeem mankind of their sins. Why does he refuse? Well, he doesn’t think humanity needs to be redeemed from hell, there probably is no hell, and no nasty ole Satan that tempts us and tricks us into sin and therefore no need for a belief in some psychopathic infanticidal “idea”. Rev. John has been given up to his sins, he has traded the truth for a foolish and futile lie. There is no hell and no judgment. God, if there is a God, is love and mercy only.
Then why is Christianity THE debate of all debates? Why do we still grow fearful at the thought of the Resurrection? Why don’t we debate Buddhism or Zorastians and grow fiery angry and have little fish contradicting their beliefs on our cars? Because the founders of those false religions are dead and were dust long ago! But Christ is risen, proving His divinity and His faithfulness. Why did He die!? Because we are wretched felons, murderers and adulterers in our hearts! We, all of the world, have broken the just law of the Creator God, and the penalty is death. Death. SHEOL, HELL, HADES, DEATH! But for His sake, because He loved us so, He sent His only son, the Word of God whom was God, to die for us and to take the penalty for us on the cross!
AWAKE WORLD! Wake up from your iniquities! Wake up from your lifestyle of debauchery, drunkenness and loathed sin! Awake and turn to the LORD GOD whom was and is and is to come. Beat your chests in grief for turning away from Him that loves you most. Repent for the rule of God is coming! PLEASE I BESEECH YOU to not tarry upon your confession of His lordship over your life!
If you tarry you will perish. You will be guilty of not giving God the glory He deserves. Why does He deserve anything? Because He is God. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” –Revelation 4:11
Become His beloved. Seek the Lord God with all your heart. Nothing we can do can wash away the guilt and shame, the mark of sinner from our souls. Nothing but His grace.
