5/17/13

From Gary... Absolute, perfect perfection


I am unsure as to WHEN my granddaughter Elizabeth took this picture, but I am very sure it is one of the most beautiful pictures I HAVE EVER SEEN.  I might actually go so far as to say that it is PERFECT!!!!  I absolutely LOVE the colors, the contrast balanced against the correct shading levels.  It is so good, I can almost SMELL its wonderful fragrance.  

This reminds me of the poet John Keats, who wrote:

A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever


"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

Nor do we merely feel these essences
For one short hour; no, even as the trees
That whisper round a temple become soon
Dear as the temple's self, so does the moon,
The passion poesy, glories infinite,
Haunt us till they become a cheering light
Unto our souls, and bound to us so fast
That, whether there be shine or gloom o'ercast,
They always must be with us, or we die.

Therefore, 'tis with full happiness that I
Will trace the story of Endymion.
The very music of the name has gone
Into my being, and each pleasant scene
Is growing fresh before me as the green
Of our own valleys: so I will begin
Now while I cannot hear the city's din;
Now while the early budders are just new,
And run in mazes of the youngest hue
About old forests; while the willow trails
Its delicate amber; and the dairy pails
Bring home increase of milk. And, as the year
Grows lush in juicy stalks, I'll smoothly steer
My little boat, for many quiet hours,
With streams that deepen freshly into bowers.
Many and many a verse I hope to write,
Before the daisies, vermeil rimmed and white,
Hide in deep herbage; and ere yet the bees
Hum about globes of clover and sweet peas,
I must be near the middle of my story.
O may no wintry season, bare and hoary,
See it half finished: but let Autumn bold,
With universal tinge of sober gold,
Be all about me when I make an end!
And now at once, adventuresome, I send
My herald thought into a wilderness:
There let its trumpet blow, and quickly dress
My uncertain path with green, that I may speed
Easily onward, thorough flowers and weed."

Now, I have written about 30 or more poems in my life, but never could attain to the majestic poetic masterpiece that Keats achieves.  His idyllic perfection is like Elizabeth's picture; it is worthy of as much praise as I can conceive- and more!!!  The Law of God is like that--- UTTER PERFECTION IN ABSOLUTE PERFECT BEAUTY!!!  Yet, being the frail human beings we are, we fall short of the perfection of its intention.  Take a few moments and consider the following passages of Scripture...

James, Chapter 2
  10 For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 

John, Chapter 7

1 After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he wouldn’t walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.  2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand.  3 His brothers therefore said to him, “Depart from here, and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see your works which you do.  4 For no one does anything in secret, and himself seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.”  5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him. 

  6  Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.   7  The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.   8  You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.” 

  9  Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee.  10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret.  11 The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he?”  12 There was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “Not so, but he leads the multitude astray.”  13 Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews.  14 But when it was now the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?” 

  16  Jesus therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.   17  If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself.   18  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.   19  Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?” 


Acts, Chapter 7

51  “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. 52 Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.  53 You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!” 

  54  Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.  55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 

  57  But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.  58 They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.  59 They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”  60 He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep. 


Romans, Chapter 2
17  Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,  18 and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,  19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,  20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth.  21 You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal?  22 You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who glory in the law, through your disobedience of the law do you dishonor God?  24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.  25 For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.  26 If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?  27 Won’t the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?  28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;  29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God. 

God above is perfect, we are not!!!  Truthfully, we all at one time or another, do things we know we should not do.  The first few Scripture passages bring this out and more.  Even if we only break ONE commandment, we are guilty of all!!!  The Jews tried and tried to keep the LAW- and failed.  They did not understand that true obedience to God is a heart-matter; one of attitude, not just performance. That is the difference between keeping rules like small children or being an adult who looks for the intent behind the rules.  Even when we do the latter, we still fall short occasionally  and that is where Jesus comes in.  He gives us grace (undeserved mercy) when we fail and that is the absolute perfect solution to the problem of imperfection.  Absolute, perfect perfection!!! 

From Jim McGuiggan... Chaos and the Cross


Chaos and the Cross

New Testament writers never smooth off the ragged edges of the cross. They give us insights into its meaning but it always remains jagged and offensive. That's part of its power as it subverts our smooth talk and tame analysis of the world.
Accustomed to hearing the truth that in some way the cross of Christ atones for the sins of the world, that in some way the life of the world is gained through the cross--because we're used to hearing that truth and because it's such unfathomable good news, we've forgotten what they meant when they spoke of "the cross".
Because it has made sense of so much, we're no longer shaken by its bizarre nature. Because we're often awed and silent at the thought of it, we lose touch with the bedlam and screaming and public nature of it. Because of the love we've come to recognize in it it's difficult to keep in mind the utter savagery and mindless, lunatic cruelty of it.
We see in it the holy obedience of Christ offered to the eternal Father but when we're told "there they crucified him," we're apt to miss the fact that Jesus Christ was shrewdly lynched by a self-serving governor and a religious hierarchy who knew how to use the mob.
The cross of Christ always retains a jaggedness, an aspect of pointlessness, something that shouldn't have happened but did. If only Pilate hadn't folded, if people hadn't lied, if the religious hierarchy hadn't been afraid, if the populace had risen up to oppose it, etc., etc. It wouldn't have happened.
Sin is something that never should have happened. There was no eternal necessity that it should. If this is true and the cross (whatever else it does it) atones for sin, then there's a sense in which the crucifixion of Christ is a contingent event. No sin--no need for the cross to atone for it.
Whatever is to be learned from Auschwitz or Treblinka, what happened at these places can't and shouldn't be "smoothed out". They mustn't be reduced to "the things we learn" from them. They are events which beggar description and defy full explanation. The Christian senses that same thing about the hill outside Jerusalem where One who represented both the holy Father and a teeming humanity was murdered. Golgotha is the inner meaning (and more) of what was spelled out in obscenely large, bold-faced print in the death-camps.
Surely the Nazi death camps with their fathomless depths of depravity and their tormented millions tower over the little hill outside Jerusalem. Without faith in Christ that way of thinking makes sense to me. But if the one who died on that central cross was who Christians think he was and if what he was doing there had galactic ramifications maybe Dachau and the Archiapeligo gulags were taken up in that event at Golgotha. Maybe the Golgotha event gives a meaning and depth to the horrors of all that evil and hurt that even the poor tortured people couldn't know; a meaning more stupendous than even the agony-filled survivors of such places know.
And in turn, such places of horror give us insight into the meaning and necessity of the crucifixion of God's own Son. If even Christians are led to wonder, "Why was such a sacrifice necessary if the world is to be forgiven and gain life?" maybe Haiti under Papa Doc and Cambodia under Pol Pot tell us why.
Maybe Golgotha enables us to look at Auschwitz with even more horrified wonder. True these places and what happened there drive us even at this late date to speechlessness, but Golgotha would not make less of them, it would want to make more of them. It would say all that any poor wretched and forever-scarred soul would groan out, and then it would say even more. "Yes, it was that. All that. Nothing less than that. But it was more. It was a moment when the world was given a mirror and it saw itself. It was a moment when the monster that is in humanity sprang into view and showed itself for what it is. It was a time when what God in Jesus Christ said the world had to be redeemed from was demonstrated. Auschwitz was not the denial of God it was the most awful vindication of God's claim and God's deed and God's self-sacrifice outside Jerusalem.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... Disciples Ask Questions 


                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                   Disciples Ask Questions (9:10-13)

INTRODUCTION

1. After being told not to reveal what occurred on the mount of
   transfiguration, Peter, James, and John had questions about what
   Jesus said... - Mk 9:10
   a. They weren't sure what rising from the dead meant
   b. Though believing in the future resurrection, they were perplexed
      by announcements of Jesus' own death and resurrection - cf. Mk 9:31-32

2. They then asked a question about what scribes taught concerning
   Elijah...
   a. Why Elijah must come first, that is, precede the Messiah - Mk 9:11
   b. Jesus confirms the scribes were correct, Elijah must come first
      - Mk 9:12; cf. Mal 4:5
   c. But that Elijah had already come, in the person of John the
      Baptist - Mk 9:13; cf. Mt 17:12-13

[Note that in the first case, the disciples had a question but did not
ask, thus remaining in ignorance (cf. Mk 9:31-32); in the second case,
they had a question, asked and received their answer.  Important to
discipleship is asking questions! To appreciate why, let's first
review...]

I. THE CONCEPT OF DISCIPLESHIP

   A. THE WORD "DISCIPLE"...
      1. The Greek word is mathetes - a learner, pupil - Thayer
      2. It denotes "one who follows another's teaching" - Vine's
         Expository Dictionary

   B. WHAT JESUS EXPECTS OF DISCIPLES...
      1. To learn from Him - Mt 11:28-30
      2. To be taught things He commanded - Mt 28:19-20

   C. WHAT THE APOSTLES EXPECT OF DISCIPLES...
      1. To grow in knowledge - 2Pe 3:18
      2. To increase in the knowledge of God and Christ - Col 1:10; Php 3:8

[A disciple of Christ, then, is to be life-long learner, growing in the
knowledge of God and those things which He taught Himself and through
His apostles.  Important to such learning is...]

II. THE ROLE OF QUESTIONS

   A. JESUS TAUGHT BY ASKING QUESTIONS...
      1. In regards to healing on the Sabbath - Mt 12:10-12
      2. In regards to His identity - Mt 16:13-15; 22:42-45
      3. In regards to divorce - Mk 10:3
      3. In regards to paying taxes - Lk 20:22-25
      4. In regards to having authority - Mt 21:24-25
      -- Asking questions can be a useful teaching tool

   B. DISCIPLES LEARNED BY ASKING QUESTIONS...
      1. They asked about His parables - Mk 4:10; 7:17
      2. They asked about Elijah - Mk 9:11
      3. They asked about their inability to cast out a demon - Mk 9:28
      4. They asked about His teaching on divorce - Mk 10:10
      5. They asked about the man born blind - Jn 9:2
      6. They asked about the destruction of Jerusalem - Mk 13:1-4
      -- Asking questions is a great way to learn

   C. WE SHOULD LEARN BY ASKING QUESTIONS...
      1. Do not hesitate to ask questions
         a. In Bible classes
         b. After the sermons
         c. At any time (in person, via email, by phone)
      2. Do not be afraid to ask questions
         a. Some fear they will appear ignorant
         b. Which is better:
            1) To appear ignorant temporarily?
            2) To remain ignorant permanently?
      3. Besides learning, asking questions is a great way:
         a. To make Bible classes more interesting
         b. To help teachers and preachers be more useful (they love
            questions!)
      4. I had a student who came to class prepared with questions
         a. He wrote them down prior to class on 3x5 index cards
         b. His questions encouraged others to ask their own questions
         c. It provided a great learning experience for all
      -- Never underestimate the importance of asking questions!

CONCLUSION

1. Remember, a disciple is a life-long learner...
   a. As disciples of Christ, we must always be learning
   b. Growing in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom

2. There is no better way to learn than to ask questions...
   a. Ask a brother, a sister, a teacher, a preacher
   b. Keep asking until you get a Biblical answer

And you certainly do not have to wait until you are a disciple of Jesus
to ask questions.  Consider the example of the Ethiopian eunuch:

   So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does
   the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?" Then
   Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached
   Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some
   water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me
   from being baptized?" - Ac 8:34-36

He asked two questions:  one that began his learning about Jesus, the
other that led to his being saved by Jesus!  Are you willing to ask
questions in order to learn and be saved...?



Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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5/16/13

From Gary... Stairway to Heaven


Today's post is unusual in that it didn't begin with a picture, but rather a song.  Recently, Elizabeth was visiting for a few days and during her stay she happened to mention something like, "you seem to sing a lot".  Knowing myself, that is probably the sense of it and NOT her exact words.  But, anyway, I thought about that this morning and sat down and actually listened to some music from the 60's.  My tastes include many types of music, but rock and roll is probably at the top of the list.  Eventually, I came to one of my all time favorites and I liked it so much, that I played it several times.  There is something about the song, something that reverberates in me over and over- until it becomes part of my day (and night).  If you have eight minutes, click on the link below and listen- I hope you enjoy it.



Lyrics to "Stairway to Heaven"


There's a lady who's sure 

All that glitters is gold 
And she's buying a stairway to heaven. 
When she gets there she knows 
If the stores are all closed 
With a word she can get what she came for. 
Ooh ooh and she's buying a stairway to heaven. 
There's a sign on the wall 
But she wants to be sure 
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings. 
In a tree by the brook 
There's a songbird who sings, 
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven. 
Ooh, it makes me wonder, 
Ooh, it makes me wonder. 
There's a feeling I get 
When I look to the west, 
And my spirit is crying for leaving. 
In my thoughts I have seen 
Rings of smoke through the trees, 
And the voices of those who standing looking. 
Ooh, it makes me wonder, 
Ooh, it really makes me wonder. 
And it's whispered that soon, If we all call the tune 
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn 
For those who stand long 
And the forests will echo with laughter. 
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, 
Don't be alarmed now, 
It's just a spring clean for the May queen. 
Yes, there are two paths you can go by 
But in the long run 
There's still time to change the road you're on. 
And it makes me wonder. 
Your head is humming and it won't go 
In case you don't know, 
The piper's calling you to join him, 
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, 
And did you know 
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind. 
And as we wind on down the road 
Our shadows taller than our soul. 
There walks a lady we all know 
Who shines white light and wants to show 
How ev'rything still turns to gold. 
And if you listen very hard 
The tune will come to you at last. yrics to "Stairway to Heaven"



When all are one and one is all 
To be a rock and not to roll. 
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.


Commentary :




Led ZeppelinHUB INTRO

Although I am a Christian, I was not raised on Christian music or gospel – and I still have no real ear for either.  I came down through the years on a much edgier path, one littered with loud guitars, booming drums and crying keyboards.  While it is admissible that much of mainstream rock has no Christian elements in it, there is, I believe, a modicum of faith in the Creator evident in the styles of some.  I believe there is a great deal of beautiful and worthy poetry that remains to this day, sadly untapped.  So it is my intention to tap into this and present a continuing series of “lyric” studies for songs that have flown under the radar.  I do believe they hold a deep and meaningful message for us all.  I do not profess to know what the artist’s intentions were in creating their songs, but much like any work of art, it is open to interpretation by the hearer.  I am conveying my take on how they have affected my life.


Superstition

"There's a lady who's sure, all that glitters is gold, and she's buying the stairway to heaven."
It has been my sad experience in life to find that many church-going Christians are very superstitious. Superstition is defined as "an unreasoning fear of what is unknown or mysterious."
Many look at secular music and assume from the get that there is no spirituality in them, no desire to seek and find truth. They look at musicians for their outrageous sins which are all too often used to promote them for filthy lucre sake. But the greed, the drinking, the drugs, and the sex are not uncommon themes in normal every day life of normal every day people, including Christians. People of all faiths are battling addictions and carnal weaknesses. To believe it is a musicians job to behave as a role model is to believe any of us can successfully be a role model all the time.  None of us are without some misgivings. Hard as we try, we are not perfect either, and our daily walk takes us on many varied paths, some far from our Creator, His Son, and their purpose for us.  Let us not be too proud.
I truly believe 'Stairway to Heaven' speaks to all of us.  Only the proud believe they can get everything they want without bending to the will of the King of kings.
"When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed, with a word she can get what she came for."
On the live version of this particular song, the singer, Robert Plant, begins the song by saying, he believes it is a song of hope.
I started listening to Led Zeppelin when I was about 13 and that is how I saw it then - and still do.
Many Christian ministers, then and now, teach that because of guitarist Jimmy Page's obsession with the occult and Aleistar Crowley, the lyrics and spirit of Zeppelin music is tainted and demonic.
I call that line of thinking - that line of reasoning - superstition.
Mark 7:20 'And He said, That which cometh outof the man, defileth the man.'
In the next two verses, Yahshua lists a great many evils, everything from thoughts, adultery, theft, and pride before packaging the whole message.
Mark 7:23 'All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.'
You cannot be defiled by anything in this world.  You can be surrounded by every evil image and sound, and yet not be influenced by them.
Temptation is merely the option laid out on the table before you. The ability to resist or fail in the face of temptation is already stored up inside you. 
And, in truth, nothing is a temptation unless that weakness is already in you. Nobody can convince you to rob a bank for any reason unless the desire to take from others is already a part of your heart. Nobody can convince you to fornicate unless the desire to be sexually active without a spiritual yoke is already a part of your heart.  You can't blame the devil or anyone else for your sins.
If these weaknesses were not already a part of your heart, you would not know them to be tempting.
In all my years of listening to Led Zeppelin, I never once felt inclined to worship the devil, or seek out the mystery's of the occult. Getting beyond the superstition of it all, I saw the words written and sung by Led Zeppelin as the voice of one "seeking".
We are told in Scripture to seek Him early, while He can yet be found.
++++


REPENT

"There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure, cause you know sometimes words have two meanings."
Why do we who are seeking the truth about the Scriptures and the Creator, go to such great lengths to read and study words, phonetics, and definitions; even other languages?  We do this because we know there are idioms, there are words and phrases that mean different things to different people, at different times and places.  Everything is not as straightforward as our own understanding unless we are arrogant and choose to assume that everyone should see things our way.
"In the tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings, Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven."
Pride is such an ugly characteristic in people.  And all too often, Christians bear the standard of pride worse than those they label 'heathen.' 
Repentance is our declaration to have thought, believed and behaved wrongly.  It is our declaration to the world, that at times, our thoughts, despite our Christian beliefs, have been misgiven - in error.
Try telling some Christians they are in error and they will raise a holy jihad against you.  They do not accept chastisement because they believe it is trying to uproot their faith.
Faith is more about uprooting knowledge in order to find solace in the unknown, then it is in knowing.
++++

Scared of Pipers

"There's a feeling I get when I look to the west, and my spirit is crying for leaving. In my thoughts I have seen, rings of smoke through the trees, and the voices of those who stand looking."
How many of us have never felt the urge to run away from our problems? How many of us have never felt like just turning our back on everything we know would solve all our problems?
When I hear those lines, that crying to leave and run west, run away from the sunrise, I hear a desire to flee in fear.
Hebrews 12:1 'Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.'
But once we see the cloud of witnesses to the truth, the voices that stand looking, the whole history of personalities listed in Hebrews Chapter 11 who "By Faith" endured and ran with patience the life set before them, we know what we have to do.
We have to "look unto Yahshua, the author and finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2)
"And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune, then the piper will lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forest will echo in laughter."
I don't know about you but I hear that and all I can see is my Savior returning for me. I don't care if their was some ulterior motive behind the writer writing those words - what I hear is - Yahshua coming back and making a new day, a new heaven and a new earth. I look forward to that day of laughter.
++++

Your Not Saved Yet

"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now, it's just a spring clean for the May queen. Yes, there are two paths you can go by but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on."
Sometimes we get caught up in our thoughts. We alarm ourselves and fret over everything we think and do. But making mistakes is part of our human walk. Christ has empathy for this weakness in us. He has given us time and opportunity to find the correct path and stay on it.
I think this verse probably bothers many Christians because far too many have been seduced by the "Once Saved, Always Saved" theory of salvation. I think Led Zeppelin got it right. I think there is always time to change the road you are on - for good - and for bad.
Mark 13:13 '. . . but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.'
In Ezekiel Chapter 18, Yahweh asks, how it is not fair that a man who repents is better than a man who was righteous and later resigns himself to evil? To mankind, the old deeds of the righteous man should speak for him despite his latest sins, and the sinner man's sins should speak for him despite his conversion.  That is an unforgiving world.
There is still time for Christians to fall away, just like there is still time for sinners to be saved.
++++

BORN AGAIN

"Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know, the piper's calling you to join him."
He knew you before you were born and He is calling you to join Him. This "conscience" will not go away unless you become completely reprobate and allow your heart to have no voice at all.
"Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know, your stairway lies on the whispering wind."
You cannot buy the stairway to heaven for the stairway is spiritual. Those that are of the flesh-thinking, believe there has to be a way to make worldly success become spiritual success.
John 3:6 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.'
The ONLY WAY to heaven is to be born again and follow the way of the wind.
John 3:8 'The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.'
++++

A Brilliant Disguise For Sin

"And as we wind on down the road, our shadows taller than our souls, there walks a lady we all know, who shines white light and wants to show, how everything still turns to gold."
Our carnal life casts a big shadow and often times it darkens the truth we want to be.
Romans 7:19 'For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil, which I would not, that I do.'
This is humility, a humility far too many Christians believe they must disguise in order to appear powerful before the world.  We are only powerful in Christ - not in our own right.  Our shadows and sins are taller than our souls. 
And while we wrestle with these many weaknesses and flaws, there is always this shining temptation to embrace our sins as necessary and acceptable - even justified - everything is still golden.
Until we come to repentance, nothing is golden and nothing is light.  There is a false light trying to convince us that we can sin and be saved, that we can go down the wrong path and still arrive at the right destination.
2Corinthians 11:14 'And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.'
Don't let temptation convince you to obey your weaknesses continuously.

Loyal

"And if listen very hard, the truth will come to you at last, when all is one and one is all, to be a rock and not to roll."
When will the ultimate truth come?  It will come when all is made ONE.
John 10:30 'I and My Father are One.'
John 14:20 'At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.'
And once we realize He is in us, then we too are One with the Father.  And anyone that is One with the Father becomes a rock, a stable, reliable, trustworthy, loyal soul.  We no longer roll.  We no longer flee.  We no longer grow scared and weary at well doing.
How this song is "transformed" to sound evil and demonic is a mystery to me.  But I have no superstitions about it.  I hear it and it brings me closer to Christ.  I'm not trying to buy my way to heaven.
I'm trying to stay on the right path like a rock that will not be moved.
Colossians 1:23 'If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel . . .'
Amen

Now, I have heard all sorts of interpretations about this song.  Frankly, I don't give much credence to those who say it is from the devil and if you listen to it and have a doubt- then never listen to it again.  For me, it think it just may be a truly spiritual song, disguised because of the genre of rock and roll.  Who knows for sure- NO ONE, except the author (and he is not telling).  Aside from all this.. I was sitting in the recliner listening to this song and it didn't take long for me to associate this song with Jesus.  Here is what I am referring to.... 

John, Chapter 1
45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 

  46  Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” 

Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 

  47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” 

  48  Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” 

Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 

  49  Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!” 

  50  Jesus answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these!”   51 He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” 

Jesus is the way to God.  HE is the stairway to HEAVEN!!!  You can't buy your way in or sneak in or do something to merit entrance into HEAVEN.  Jesus and only Jesus is the way.  Hold to that thought and never change it.  The picture at the top may show a rainbow that could be a stairway, but it is just a reminder, just like the song is.  Enough said; except that everywhere you look God will teach you something- but you do have to LOOK!!!
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