Forged By Faith

Luke 11:50 NIV An implied implication It’s something of a mystery in need of interpretation, a guess I guess, a recommendation surmised from a surprise situation. It’s a sudden change enforced or inflicted upon something that demands that all someones who were involved in said situation embrace this shift to the demands and destination. An implication is something implied, suggested, hinted at but not made entirely obvious so as to leave at least a little work to be finished by those to whom it’s given. The Gospel is not that kind of situation. Granted, of whom the Gospel is given and toward whom it is then intended to be received, much of the lead up was left and learned within parables shared by He about whom the Gospel is written, spoken, shared however it might have been shared or will be shared in however many days we’ve still to come before the Day’s done came and we’ve all flown away to wherever our forever might be. But still, all such riddles aside, there is nothing that the t...

Matthew 23:34 NIV The difference Thanks to what I know a mind which thinks entirely too often about entirely too much I’ll readily agree that it’s perhaps a distance so small that it may in truth not be there at all. And indeed, I do find lately that my mind’s so cloudy that I often feel as if I’m just coming up with the most random of stuff in my still trying to find something worth saying. And maybe this will come out as so many of these do anymore and leave the point, the purpose of it all lying beaten and broken upon the floor a mind flooded with entirely too many thoughts of which to ever make sense. But still, as of this morning at least, I do find that I do feel that there is a difference to be found between a life well lived and a life lived well. And in fact I think it’s such the difference that it designs both danger and disaster but so too delight and devotion. Which pair you find depending entirely upon whichever side of the line you may happen to find your mind, your life ...

Acts 7:52 NIV Nothing ever changes Rather there’s this ever-generalized stagnancy to our society that’s been inviting us all to continue along within the same direction that those who’ve gone before us have always gone. And now sure, we paint it up all nice and pretty to help pretend it isn’t there. We hide it behind all of our constant technological progressions and hierarchy-based algorithms. We mask it with team logos and ignore it as we focus on various other fandoms and friendships. But the cold hard reality is that among humanity there is no novelty. There is nothing new to anything we do. Maybe even somehow less to everything we are. And to be honest, which has never really been a part of our preference for repeating the past’s penchant for hypocrisy and dishonesty and deception, we like it this way. We really don’t mind things being always the same. In truth it makes everything from figuring out how to live amongst a lost and losing society and hopefully have some fun and make ...

2 Chronicles 36:16 NIV They shot the messenger Although by ‘shot’ I mean stoned, crucified, beheaded, fed to lions, sawed in half, beat to death, stabbed, hung, burned, crucified some more, one or two perhaps even upside down and did probably all sorts of other really horrible things unto these men and women to whom God had given the words of warning aimed at inspiring His people to turn off their path toward the impending (still) destruction that they’d all earned thanks to their all having learned to love this life in this land rather than the love of the hand that is Him who came down from Heaven to save we heathen. And by ‘they’ I mean we. Because, well, all of us have hated this message. All of us still hate being told we’re wrong. All of us despise the suggestion that we should probably begin doing something differently because of it and too that if we don’t then things probably won’t go very well. Why? Because things are going well. Life here does make sense. Most things do work...

2 Chronicles 36:15 NIV Not for lack of trying But rather simply due to lack of interest in hearing, in seeing, in believing even. Indeed, all throughout time itself we’ve all managed to prove time and again a people who seek not friends with attention given unto anything which doesn’t give us only exactly what we want in return for our sullen willingness to turn toward it or they whom begs a moment of our acknowledgement. It’s truly as if we’ve become so impressed with ourselves that we’re now instantly depressed whenever another asks we bother to focus on anything or anyone other than us. We love us some us and, well, it takes a literal act of God to change that. Thankfully said acts of God are what God’s the very best at. He’s in fact been acting in and on and for our behalf ever since He determined that we should be here. It’s like a person who decides they want a puppy. They go looking to get one knowing that they’re bringing home with it the responsibility to feed it, to protect i...