Monroe Bridge is a discourse on my interaction with life. Any and all views expressed in this blog are mine alone.
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Sunday, December 16, 2012
Who are you magnifying?
The events of Newtown, CT have moved me to re-examine the life I live, and today's sermon seems to be pushing that same agenda. As I summarize the sermon, I hope you will make the connection I made.
The pastor was preaching on Luke 1: 39-56, Mary's visit to Elizabeth. He took a very different turn, choosing to begin with the idea of magnification. His words hit me hard as he stated that we tend to magnify those created things and the situations they bring instead of the Creator. We tend to magnify the pain we are in, the sickness we have, the success we are experiencing or any number of other things about our status in life. Here, in this passage, Mary, with the ultimate opportunity to magnify herself, does not, and instead, magnifies the Lord.
Here's Mary, the mother of our Lord, glorifying the Lord with her actions and words. And, we see the same example from Elizabeth. Both of these women are going through miraculous pregnancies, which, due to the age and circumstance associated with each women, bring attention all its own, and yet, they continue to run from it. Each could quite naturally, with little additional effort, glorify their situation and circumstance, and yet, both do not.
What is our response to this terrible tragedy? It is certainly consistent prayer, support, aid, and any other assistance deemed necessary, but what will not be helpful is to magnify the situation over the Lord Jesus. Mary, in verse 1:47 of her Magnificant, provides our example:
"My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
Wow! As the pastor referenced, Mary, as a pregnant woman, had just traveled several days over rough terrain to be with Elizabeth. Her song says nothing of her state, her troubles, her efforts or her future; no, her song magnifies He who is Holy, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, King Jesus! Her heart reflects what is most important to her and what is her deepest belief, her Savior, Jesus.
This sermon was an important reminder that I am not to dwell in my pain, my joy, my hurt or my success; I am to dwell in my Lord for He alone is worthy of my worship. The pastor closed with Psalm 2; the weak will be exalted and the proud and strong humbled. Those that bully and maim will be brought to their knees in His perfect timing. Senseless violence like we have seen recently are not outside his scope. We are called to leave them to Him and His timing, despite the tremendous desire not to do this. We are not to fall victim to the trap of magnifying the tragedy, the sadness, the real pain or the tremendous hurt. As Believers, we are called to magnify Him alone.
Who or what are you magnifying? Is it your pain? What about your standing in life? Maybe, its your intelligence, or maybe, its your power. Psalm 2 is your warning and my warning to magnify Him, as Creator. He is the great healer and the only answer for unspeakable events like those in Newtown, CT. May our prayers be focused on those families who lost loved ones, that the Lord would be their healing and provision at this difficult time. May Jesus be magnified! Blessings!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tragic Consequences
The young boys involved will be forever scared and forever affected. They will never look at life in the same way, and probably will never look at most things in any of the ways most of us currently enjoy. But, there is a deeper consequence... one that goes all the way to the soul. Young men often look at their male role models with an awe reserved for only a small few: their father, their heroes and their God. These events have surely already begun to leave their mark on these boys who are now young men. They will certainly each have their own unique set of issues with which to deal, but they will also all be affected in one consistent area... that of faith. Young boys often look at their older male heroes as God-like in their early years. Their views of God and faith are often shaped by their views of their fathers and male coaches.
In Jamaica, most Christian churches are full of women and children but little or no men. Why not? I believe it is a vicious cycle repeating itself over and over. Families are broken, fathers are absent and no male role models are present so children grow up with no father, no solid male role model and no model of a Holy God who loves them. There are too many tragedies in this Penn State story to count, and I am sure more will surface over the next several weeks, but one of the tragedies that will get little or no attention is the abject failure of these men in their God-given mandate to be Godly examples to these young boys by way of love and faithfulness.
Please join me in praying for these families and, especially, for these boys/young men. My prayer is that God would visit each of them in a very special way and rekindle that flame reserved for God that others cruelly extinguished before it even had a chance to grow.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Earthquake
The earthquake that devastated Japan was the strongest recorded earthquake the island nation has ever had. The picture in this post is part of Japan's earthquake warning system.
Here’s how it works:
Seismometers detect the first shock wave. Computers analyze the wave and estimate how powerful the second one will be. If that wave is estimated to be more powerful than a certain threshold (”lower 5″ on the local scale), an alert is issued.
The image reveals the number of shock waves Japan's system detected, recorded and then issued warnings for. As you can see... the entire nation was affected by this earthquake.
According to CNN, "The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis." The effects are hard to comprehend.
This will certainly be the number one topic on most news programs over the next few weeks. May we be reminded to pray for the nation of Japan and others affected every time we see or hear about this over the next several weeks. Let us all keep these people in our prayers for the foreseeable future. Blessings!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Wrong Path of Federal Courts
"A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional Thursday, saying the day amounts to a call for religious action.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb wrote that the government can no more enact laws supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic."
This is what we get when a judge rules on rational, personal conviction and, I will add, an agenda and not on precedent and law. Crabb writes regarding her ruling,
"... that her ruling was not a judgment on the value of prayer. She noted government involvement in prayer may be constitutional if the conduct serves a "significant secular purpose" and doesn't amount to a call for religious action. But the National Day of Prayer crosses that line, she wrote.
"It goes beyond mere 'acknowledgment' of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context," she wrote. "In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience."
Judge Crabb's comments are problematic because as she attempts to remain general and vague what she has done is reveal her true ruling - the secular worldview is the only worldview that is constitutional. She claims her ruling is not a judgment on the value of prayer as long as it serves a "significant secular purpose."
She claims that the government can "no more enact laws supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic." Really? If that is the case then her ruling is technically unconstitutional as it is enacting a law supporting a type of prayer, that which is secular. It is putting the government squarely on one side - that of the secular worldview. According to Judge Crabb, the government is not take sides in personal matters. She has a huge problem with that statement as the government does take sides in personal matters of all varieties.
Despite the government's attempt to sell us on this idea that the secular worldview is not really a worldview, it is a worldview that is marked by liberal theology and social tendencies. It is one that is marked by a large government and an elitist mentality. This is the dirty little secret that most liberal secular humanists do not want us to know. The liberal social agenda is an elitist agenda with a certain select group of people running the show - them.
Judge Crabb's goals are the goals of the liberal agenda, anything that empowers the individual or takes away from the government's power will be deemed "unconstitutional." Do not take my word for it; do your own study, and you will find the same thing I found.
The federal courts have been going in the wrong direction for many years. This is but one more example of that direction which has never been about the law or even justice. It has always been about power and more of it. Judge Crabb's ruling is not about the constitution of the past, but a ruling about what is now the only worldview that is constitutional today - that of the secular variety.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Time...
Dr. Kreeft believes that the single largest obstacle to our relationship with God is having no time, and I believe he is right. We live in a time of great invention. Many tasks from the past that robbed us of valuable time are now taken care of by machines. Yet, we still have less time than we used to have. Why?
Dr. Kreeft believe we are out of alignment regarding time. He writes,
"We have time and prayer backwards. We think time determines prayer, but prayer determines time. We think our lack of time is the cause of our lack of prayer, but our lack of prayer is the cause of our lack of time."
I know this, but still, I resist and allow time to determine prayer. Dr. Kreeft believes we should think about time differently. He goes on to write,
"Time is like the setting of a play. The setting is really part of the play, contained by the play, determined by the play. But we often think the opposite: we think the play is contained by the setting. We think that the theme, the meaning, the spirit of the play is in its material setting instead of the other way around. That's like thinking the soul is in the body. In fact, the body is in the soul. So says St. Thomas Aquinas. And since time measures the movements of material bodies, while prayer measures the movements of the soul, time is really in prayer rather than prayer in time. Prayer determines and changes and miraculously multiplies time. But prayer multiplies time only if and when we sacrifice our time, offer it up. There's the rub. We fear sacrifice. It's a kind of death."
Do we fear sacrifice? I believe we do. We do not like the word sacrifice in the west. We think, in our minds, that there is something wrong with it. That it is a dirty part of faith reserved for those poor souls struggling with their faith. Maybe, I am the only one who thought that way. Dr. Kreeft makes the case for sacrifice when he writes,
"All the real religions of the world are based on sacrifice, on willing death. Only the fake religion of pop psychology (which has infiltrated even the modern church) ignores this fact. Even pagans and polytheists know it. The most popular god in India is Shiva, the Destroyer, and the most popular goddess is Kali, his female equivalent. Even Hindus know the importance of spiritual surgery, death, sacrifice. After Calvary, how can Christians know this any less? Our Lord repeatedly taught us that unless we took up our cross and followed him, we could not be his disciples. This probably means some terrible and difficult things; but one of the simple and easy things it means is to sacrifice our time to God. For time is life—"life-time."
I believe he is accurate in his analysis. If you read his article you will notice that Dr. Kreeft challenges his readers to get rid of the TV. Our family is a testimony to this radical idea... we have not had cable for over a year, and it has changed our lives. Dr. Kreeft uses TV as just one of the many examples of the things we do instead of spending time in prayer. Dr. Kreeft leaves us with a challenge...
"The first rule for prayer, the most important first step, is not about how to do it, but to just do it; not to perfect and complete it but to begin it." Think of the things preventing you from spending more time in prayer... and rid yourselves of them. I am making my list right now. Blessings!