wild melody

If tolling bell I ask the cause. “A soul has gone to God”, Is answered in a lonesome tone; Is heaven then so sad? That bells should joyful ring to tell A soul had gone to heaven, Would seem to me the proper way Good news should be given. ~Emily Dickinson I'm thinking I agree with this. I have some half-thoughts swirling about my head so I figured I would put them into words. When one is awash in Christ’s all-atoning blood; death becomes a good thing. Why? How can something so hideous be called "good"? " O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is in the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1cor 15) What is death for the believer? It is seeing your Savior face to face. It's not an end--it's a beginning. It's not an accident—it was carefully planned by One who planned every detail of the life before and after. It is reunion with friends who left before. It is the real...

"In popular usage, the word “saint” has been debased to describe extraordinary, individual spiritual achievements. But in the Bible—the way God views sainthood—the word describes ordinary people who belong to a most extraordinary Savior and Lord. Our Redeemer achieves all the extraordinary things . At our best (and too often we are at our worst, or bumping around somewhere in the middle!), “we have done only that which we ought to have done” (Luke 17:10 NASB) God calls you “saint” to remind you who owns you, not to honor you for going above or beyond the call of duty. It’s not the Medal of Honor; it’s your enlistment papers and dog tag ..." David Powlison taken from chapter 7 of "Suffering and the Soveriegnty of God".

I pulled out Elizabeth Elliot's "Keep a Quiet Heart" to look up a specific passage last night and came across this one as well. It's classic. I found myself guilty of #1 this morning--I was whining about cares to God first thing before I even opened my Bible and not even asking for the grace to handle them! (He is indeed gracious!) Several Ways to Make Yourself Miserable 1. Count your troubles, name them one by one--at the breakfast table, if anybody will listen, or as soon as possible thereafter. 2.Worry every day about something. Don't let yourself get out of practice. It won't add a cubit to your stature, but it might burn a few calories. 3.Pity yourself. If you do enough of this, nobody else will have to do it for you. 4.Devise clever but decent ways to serve God and mammon. After all, a man's gotta live. 5.Make it your business to find out what the Joneses are buying this year and where they're going. Try to do them at least one better even if yo...

Recenty I've been reading poetry and trying to like it. Mostly it's a failure. But occasionally I find a brilliant one that I enjoy. Here is the first stanza of one by Emily Dickenson. " Through the straight pass of suffering The martyrs stately trod, Thier feet upon tempation, Thier faces upon God . " I'd like to be like that someday.