Short prose
Mary Hood (tqhousecat) at mehflowers linked to MercyMe’s song I Can Only Imagine in her post, Wake Up Dreaming, contrasting it with John Lennon’s Imagine. What a contrast! I can’t even imagine what must have been going through Lennon’s mind when he wrote what he did.
This beautiful song has been around for some time, but it is the first time I’ve heard it. I am grateful to Mary for sharing it. I may never have heard it otherwise.
Celia’s boyfriend, Derek, with two of his friends helping, removed his things from her apartment the morning she met her father, Rafael, at the café. How did her father know Derek could not be trusted? Since the arguments with her mother she had not spoken to either of them. How did her father even know there was a Derek?
Rafael remained in the café for some time after Celia ran off and then decided to walk by the ocean before going home. He was wondering what their next move should be and how he would tell his wife that his meeting with their daughter failed when he heard footsteps running from behind and Celia shouting, “Dad, wait!”
Denise offers the prompt word “walk” for this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Continues from Service – Six Sentence Stories.
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εγγισατε τω θεω και εγγιει υμιν καθαρισατε χειρας αμαρτωλοι και αγνισατε καρδιας διψυχοι
James 4:8 Textus Receptus with various translations
The King James Version translates the last word, διψυχοι, as “double minded” which suggests to me a feel-good spirituality without repentance. Avoiding repentance is a sign that one hasn’t experienced the joy that such change provides when grounded on forgiveness. No amount of substitute sentiment can compare with that.
I suspect the devil needs only half a heart to drag us all the way down. King David wanted nothing less than a newly created, clean heart when he almost lost it all with Bathsheba.
לב טהור ברא לי אלהים ורוח נכון חדשׁ בקרבי
Psalm 51:10 Masoretic Text with various translation
Being double minded is also like lighting a candle and putting it under a basket. Oneta Hayes tells us what will happen if we do that: the fire goes out.
Soon after the murder of his daughter, Timothy’s wife died in an accident brought on by the distraction of sorrow. Timothy sold their house and moved to a basement apartment of a building owned by the church to house members of their fellowship needing a place to live. Much of the money Timothy earned he donated to this church and they shielded him in the basement.
Although he didn’t feel at home anywhere without his wife and daughter, this was where he returned after Helen’s dispatch to the tunnel and the successful extraction of the trafficked children from the van.
He would be in that apartment for the next five years until the church, knowing his skills, asked if he could train prospective chaplains in defensive operations in a violent land. After being there a couple of years, one autumn day the group they were defending was attacked, and though they repelled the attackers, Timothy was hit and he found his way home.
Denise offers the word “home” for this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Continued from Gear – Six Sentence Story.
For those curious about where I imagined Timothy was sent by his church see Wes Bentley’s sermon at Calvary Chapel Miami Beach describing Far Reaching Ministries and Sudan. As a warning for those few who might like to watch the sermon, Pastor Bentley’s description of the persecution and terrorism is explicit.
αναστας δε πρωι πρωτη σαββατου εφανη πρωτον μαρια τη μαγδαληνη αφ ης εκβεβληκει επτα δαιμονια
Mark 16:9 Textus Receptus with various translations
Mario Murillo described a woman who was once demon possessed and sold on the streets in “Mary Magdalene on the Day Jesus Died”. After Jesus cast out her demons she followed Him. Then came the crucifixion.
And then came the power of the resurrection.
In his Easter blog post this morning Mario Murillo wrote, “Easter is not polite. It is fire! It is not about bunnies or eggs, and it has no place among the other harmless religious holidays.”
The resurrection separates Easter from other religious holidays. That resurrection is the assurance of the coming judgement.
διοτι εστησεν ημεραν εν η μελλει κρινειν την οικουμενην εν δικαιοσυνη εν ανδρι ω ωρισεν πιστιν παρασχων πασιν αναστησας αυτον εκ νεκρων
Acts 17:31 Textus Receptus with various translations
Geri Ungurean linked to this song in a recent post.
Some agents went with Timothy to the east parking area near the second tunnel after getting Helen’s dispatch where they found a suspicious fifteen foot van and arrested the driver upon hearing screams from the back. Other fully armed agents stood ready anticipating hostile response. When the shootout started Timothy dropped behind a car with the child he was moving from the van shielding her with his body and the protective gear he wore.
A few days later Timothy saw that child reunited with her parents at the hospital. She pointed him out and her family approached. In broken English they thanked him and the child’s mother sealed it with an uncontrolled flow of tears, holy water: God be praised.
Denise offers the prompt word “gear” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories. This continues from Service – Six Sentence Story. Next: Home – Six Sentence Story
ει τα επιγεια ειπον υμιν και ου πιστευετε πως εαν ειπω υμιν τα επουρανια πιστευσετε
John 3:12 Textus Receptus with various translations
Jason Lisle is an astronomer who argues for biblical creationism and a young earth. I think he’s right. However, I suspect many Christians would not agree. They accept the deep time of evolution perhaps because they’ve been taught that’s just the way things are. To keep religion relevant, they add onto this a God who guides the mythical process of evolution. I know some Christians believe this kind of theistic evolution, because I’ve been there, done that and wish now I hadn’t.
The problem with theistic evolution is that no connection exists between that guiding God and Elohim (Yahweh) after theistic evolution trashes Genesis 1-11. If one doesn’t accept Genesis as an historical document, how can one make sense out of Easter except as one more myth? Don’t forget what’s at stake: 1 Corinthians 15:14.
There is plenty of scientific justification for a biblical young earth. Indeed, what is lacking is scientific evidence for the belief that deep time could ever be deep enough to make evolution work or that a big bang could randomly pop any ordered reality, let alone an orderly universe, out of a disordered quantum vacuum no matter how often it tries.
Here are a few sites I have found useful should you wish to explore this.
And here are some specific sources.
Easter is upon us. Many proclaim the resurrection of Jesus as historical fact. That’s the core of what matters.
Asserting the resurrection of Jesus as historical fact takes me back to creation as presented in Genesis also as historical fact. If it is weren’t for Adam and Eve there would be no need for the death and resurrection of Jesus. From that beginning I go to the end times that prophecies assert will also be, some day, historical fact.
Here is a song I found on The Marshall Report appropriate for those last days which may be coming soon.
As Rafael finished texting Bill the message “pedophile traffic second tunnel east” that kept flashing in his mind, his daughter, Celia, arrived, sat down at the outdoor café table, and, as he expected she would, began berating him. Listening to her reminded him of the disrespectful way he treated his own father decades ago and given that experience he knew there would be no service he could perform to make things right with her. Suddenly Celia rose to leave and hissed, “Who do you think you are anyway?”
Sensing this as his last opportunity, Rafael quickly said when she rushed off, “Don’t trust that guy you’re with.”
When Celia reached her apartment she remained outside pacing the sidewalk trying to imagine which deceiving friend betrayed her by telling her dad about Derek, how it was done, and how she would get even. Rafael slowly sipped his coffee hoping she might return, wondering if it would be a good idea to try to meet her again, and then stood up, put his empty cup in the dirty dish container, and left.
Denise offers the prompt word “service” for this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Continued from Filter – Six Sentence Story. Next: Walk – Six Sentence Story or Gear – Six Sentence Story.
I first heard this song a few days ago when Mark Shields linked it in his post The Unseen is Eternal.
και ελεγον προς εαυτας τις αποκυλισει ημιν τον λιθον εκ της θυρας του μνημειου
Mark 16:3 Textus Receptus with various translations
Update on learning Hebrew: I have found the Alef with Bet channel very helpful. The audio lessons are at the beginner level. Beth clearly enunciates the words and there is a helpful transcript of the video.
The email filter kept Rafael’s messages, rare though they be from this bouncer and saint, assuming proper discernment, at the top of Bill’s inbox until read. What Rafael sent today was “pedophile traffic second tunnel east” which was all Helen needed to dispatch agents.
Helen never met Rafael, but Bill often did when passing the revival tent where Rafael worked the streets explaining once to Rafael that he was suffering from the lingering side-effects of a flu. Hearing this as a call for help rather than a lame excuse not to go into the tent, Rafael gripped Bill’s shoulder with a hand that could have dropped a terrorist praying that, through Jesus, “this illness leave my brother”.
That was twenty years ago. Bill had since relocated, but Rafael kept in contact through messages uncanny in their accuracy, and that pesky flu didn’t dare return.
Denise offers the prompt word “filter” for this week’s Six Sentence Stories. This story continues from Journey – Six Sentence Story. Next: Service – Six Sentence Story. Or perhaps Effervescent – Six Sentence Story.
If you want to know more about revival tent meetings, well, I’ve never been to one, but I just read Mario Murillo’s post Why Modesto is going to be so different. My thoughts for revival take off from there.
Poetry, Short Prose and Walking 