The Snow of Heaven

                      The Snow of Heaven

And the Word of the Lord sifted down on the hearts of the hearers,

Covering the darkness as the snow of winter blankets a city.

And like the snow of heav'n clothes the polluted city in beauty,

His crimson-stained soul was adorned in the white righteousness of Jesus.

And her life, robed in white but spotted black, was washed by truth from God,

Just as the soot of a city is swept to the sea after a storm.

Some Scripture pierced; others' thirst it quenched; and more were turned by its light.

In one, the Word burned as a fire, and in all it performed God's pleasure. 

 MCC - 2/18/10

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

An Abbreviated History of Love, on the occasion of Valentine's Day 2010

She bounced into my life, and now she's my wife.
The steps in-between are often unseen:
In our busiest days, stuff gets in the way.

She held close my heart as our paths split apart.
Those long days and hours showed hearts’ hidden powers.
Coming back to each other, love had grown stronger.

The touch of her hand or embrace of her man
Spoke the depths of the love we were so conscious of;
And rejoicing in grace, we kept singing His praise.

This marriage thing’s great, these past months – near’ 8.
Love’s growth will not halt: now a baby results!
I love you forever, O dearest of treasures!!!
- MCC

Good works / Social action

Since I've been giving some thought to the Bible's emphasis on the believer and good works, or what we might call social action in this day, I found this quote by Claus Westermann in Creation to be quite interesting. 

"...the Church in her understanding of sin had directed herself too narrowly towards Genesis ch. 3, and had neglected, or at least not considered sufficiently, the social responsibility which is the concern of ch. 4.  This can be seen quite clearly in the influence exercised by the biblical figures.  Adam and Eve walk through the whole history of western thought and art right up to the song hits and jokes of today.  Cain and Abel have always remained shadowy figures." (20)

The Greatest Save

In the run-up to World Cup 2010, I found this video of The Greatest Save of the Century by English goalkeeper Gordon Banks against the great Pele.  It is a truly amazing save!

The Trellis and The Vine

I haven't read the whole book, but The Trellis and The Vine by Marshall and Payne has been highly recommended to me.  I've read the first two chapters here, and it seems like a profitable read, even if the book is telling us things we should know and be practicing.