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.

knowledge AND living...

The aim of no passage of Scripture is that we should simply know what it says without the knowledge translating into discipleship and worship.

- Marcus Honeysett

quote from "A hole in the fuel tank?" a really good article that I was sent...

The Table

The Table

Lord's Communion -

Saint's sweet union.

Flesh that's broken -

One loaf our token.

Blood-remission -

A vine's fruition.

Christ-believing -

Flesh-blood receiving.

Grace invis'ble -

Myst'ry spiritual.

Christ's ordaining -

Christian proclaiming.

Sign and sealing -

Gospel-revealing.

Self perishing -

Brothers cherishing.

Blest sacrament* -

A Church commitment.

MCC - 1/26/10

 

 Lk 22:18-20; Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 10:16-17, 21; 11:17-34

*For the proper use of the word sacrament, consider Calvin's Institues, book 4, chapter 14.

the curse of Muslim lands according to a grand mufti

“Suicide operations have become a curse of Muslim lands." - Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh

This quote comes from the sermon preached at the hajj in November.  Two interesting articles on the topic: a news article from that day and an opinion article from this month.

A Greater Liberty to Win

A Greater Liberty to Win

“In Flanders fields,” the poem goes,
The poppies grow among the rows;
The souls there laid for freedom died
"Uphold the torch” was what they cried.

In greater cause, my life I’d give:
That souls f’rever in heav’n’d live.
In peace I’ll sleep, for Jesus said,
“My Church I will raise from the dead!”

No failure then can we conceive:
Each sheep in Jesus will believe.
The death of death, sin, and hatred
Yields life eternal and sacred.

On God's own plan we now focus,
Proclaim'ng His eternal purpose.
The vision's His, and not our own:
Nations rejoice before His throne!

MCC – 1/22-23/10

This article was very interersting on the China-Google spat.  It considers the broader issues of the Chinese rise toward superpower status as well as the question of the difference it will make whether China is faced outward or inward.  Interesting...