Continued from Part 7
I stand at the Twilight of the Gods, having given them the Blessing of Adam and released them from their millennia of service.
I had thought my Quest was simply to destroy my iron ring of Pride;
Which I once jealously guarded but had grown to despise.
But instead Zeus used his bare, bleeding hands to reforge the Ring into a Key.
But for what?
“How can I find the Lock that fits this Key?”
Continue readingThe Law is great for scaling
A fundamental insight
But is inherently static and preserving
Not generative.
To avoid breakdown
Is also to resist breakthrough
The world
And other people
Deal us grievous wounds
Not just to our person
But to those we love
To the values and institutions
That made us who we are
Whom we love like a mother
Blessed are those
Who grieve the loss
Of the historic context
That made them feel secure
Unforgiveness
Is a sign of what we value
So much
We dare not capitulate
We reject a “logos”
That says this community
Or relationship
Or status quo
Is more important than what we lost
Especially
When we envy those
With the power
To impose that logos
To our own hurt
But what if
We are both wrong?
Round the Bend is a Nevil Shute novel about Tom, a British airplane mechanic who moves to the Middle East after his wartime marriage ends in disaster.
In our online book club, I had a long but inconclusive discussion with my father about why Tom did that. This vignette is my attempt to explore that question via an alternate reality.
Continue readingOvercoming enmity, by going the extra mile, in order to grow us all closer to Jesus.
See also:
Continue readingSimilar to HeartSync or Sozo, Communion of the Betrayed (COTB) — also known as Soul Shift — is for inner healing of emotional woundings; but as a public co-devotional practice, inspired by DBJ.
COTB is designed specifically for people who feel they have been betrayed by someone close to them (as Jesus was). This is a very deep wound that requires extraordinary grace.
Special thanks to Jamie Winship of Identity Exchange for his input and encouragement.
It is a very good thing to be a follower of Jesus. But like people in the gospels, we today can end up following Jesus for many reasons: salvation, miracles, curiosity, etc.
Those are all good things. But they are not the same as actually loving Jesus for Himself. It is good to thank Him for what He does; but it is better to worship Him for who He is.
Continue readingJoin us on The Great Reset (via Zoom or YouTube Live at Tue Dec 29 1PM PST) as we work through the revelations from last week’s episode.
Question: How should we respond when we are hurt by the actions of other believers — who themselves are hurting?
Perspective: Seek the cross and grace of Christ, as the only true cure for our pain — and theirs.
Continue readingInspired by the USA Network TV show, Dick Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems model, and a Dream and Vision I had.
In order of appearance
Also featuring:
I see a locked door. In a dark and scary place, like a monster movie. Big, iron, with crisscrossed chains and padlocks.
Natalie walks up holding a flashlight. Monk trails behind nervously.
Suddenly Stottlemeyer steps in front of them. His eyes are bloodshot, as if he has been drinking, crying, or not sleeping. Perhaps all three. He is holding his gun in two shaky hands. Pointed at them.
“I warned you not to come here,” he rasps in a hoarse voice.
O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:
We praise You because You are a good God. In a world that seems filled with brokenness and evil, thank You for taking all that upon Yourself through the cross, so that we might be made whole.
Our hearts go out to the people of Charlottesville, and all those wounded physically and emotionally by the tragic violence of August 12th. We pray especially for the family and friends of Heather Heyer and the police who were killed, that they would experience Your peace and comfort.
Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.
“Barnabas? Are you awake?”
Barnabas rolled over on his cot to gaze at the younger man who had just walked in. He smiled sadly, as he saw John Mark’s nervous face and guessed the errand that prompted his late night visit.
Part 2 of the Guilt-Grace-Gratitude musical trilogy, from my 1996 meditations on The Grace Cycle.
The following song is a lyrical version of “Graphical Theology: The Grace Cycle“, part of my burst of artistic exploration in 1996. It was the first element of a trilogy on the Reformation themes of Guilt-Grace–Gratitude, but unlike the other two I never was happy enough with it to put it to music.
I’m in the process of cleaning up my “personal” site on DrErnie.com, and as part of that I’m moving some of my earlier writings to this site.
To start with, I present “Unforgiven”, a more-or-less accurate transcript of the first time God really dealt with me about anger…
The stage appears empty except for a single chair, center, facing right. A man sits on it backwards, facing left, hugging the back of the chair. His expression is grim. A single spotlight shines down on him. Another man walk out from right, and stands looking at him from the semi-darkness. The first man speaks, but remains facing left.
In Which We and the World are Transformed as We Pray to the Father
Prayer is the process of aligning our thoughts, desires, and decisions with the Name of God, so that His Spirit can work through us to transform our lives, our relationships, and our world.
Memory Verse:“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” — Matthew 6:31-33 (NKJV)
In Which We Forgive Those Who Don’t Deserve It, Because We Don’t Either
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” — Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” — Matthew 5:9
Anger is unique among the seven deadly sins in that, in general, anger isn’t even a sin (cf. Ephesians 4:26). At one level, it is simply an emotional reaction to having our boundaries crossed. And at the highest level, anger is actually a virtue, since it is a significant part of God’s character — i.e., the “name” to which we are being conformed!
At the same time, anger is also the name of one of the most violent and dangerous sins. We can define sinful anger as a self-righteous passion for punishing those who offend us. This is why anger is so empowering and so deadly: it magnifies the sins of others to the point where we ignore our own.
Because anger is so devastating, we need to combat it with both meekness — the ability to restrain our passions in submission to God’s rule — and peacemaking, which seeks restoration and reconciliation instead of revenge.
Of course, that is easier said then done…
Radically Happy 
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