death

a lady at church said this on sunday,

God does not let a thing die. He may shut it down for a while, but He won't kill it.

i could not hold my peace at this, i piped in, what about lazarus? to which i received no response.

so i ask you, what about Jesus? as brennan manning writes,

The most common form of presumption is the expectation that God will directly and secretly intervene in human affairs. We presume that by saying, "Lord, Lord," the cancer, or bankruptcy, or infidelity will disappear. We presume that God answers all prayers by assuring good outcomes, that food for the widows and orphans will fall from heaven, that the Holy One infallibly guarantees a baby's safe delivery, and that God will certainly sell our houses at the desired price if we plant a statue of Joseph upside down in the backyard. The theological arguments that support an interventionary God are many and varied. Frequently, people report that they have experienced a physical cure or an inner healing. And they have.

"Yet," as John Shea writes, "one brutal historical fact remains--Jesus is mercilessly nailed to the cross and despite the Matthean boast, twelve legions of angels did not save him that hour. No cop-out redemption theories that say God wanted it that way explain the lonely and unvisited death of God's son. This side of the grave Jesus is left totally invalidated by the Lord of heaven and earth. Trust in God does not presume that God will intervene."

Often trust begins at the far side of despair. When all human resources are exhausted, when the craving for reassurances is stifled, when we forgo control, when we cease trying to manipulate God and demystify Mystery, then--at our wits' end--trust happens within us, and the untainted cry, "Abba, into your hands I commend my spirit," surges from the heart.

why does the church today think she is exempt from hebrews ll? i don't understand. pretribulation is a wonderful idea, and in my heart i hope we go before the going gets rough, but as i survey the bible and the trials and the persecution of saints past, why do we get a get out of jail free card and they don't? i think it is hugely naive and will leave the bride woefully unprepared to face the days of trial ahead. get your oil now, you may not need it, but at least you'll have it ready if the bridegroom tarries.

(lost formatting on the following poem, if you'd like to see how it is supposed to look eme and i'll send it to you. i hate to see my work butchered thus, but thought the point worth it.)

Colossians 3:3


He keeps trying
_____to slay me
yet I refuse
_____to die
instead cling
_____half-alive
to this body of decay
_____and stench.

He keeps trying
_____to change me
yet I refuse
_____to surrender
my will, my ways
_____my ignorance.

He keeps trying
_____to love me
yet I refuse
_____to accept
His unreserved love
_____pure and unparalleled
I simply cannot
_____believe it.


He keeps trying
_____to slay me
yet I refuse
_____to die.


here is an unimpressive poem of mine which i wrote, or wrote me many, many years ago. it speaks of the loneliness unto death that i have experienced.


John 12:24

The feeling of loneliness
Overwhelms me
Like white ocean waves
_____Crashing
Never allowing me
To catch my breath.

(i figgerd if i could just put in underscores where the spaces are to be, at least you'd see my formatting represented--albeit imperfect, but at least you get the idea).