christology

found these juicy gems today...where were they in grad school when i was trying to figure all this crap out!

click on the image for an enlargement in another window

enjoy :)

re-writing the great commission (a paraphrase and an exegesis)

I am the rightful ruler of everyone and everything everywhere.

Lord over the cosmos, over the planet, over the environment, culture and economy.

Lord over every living and non-living thing on earth, and over all the people who live - or have lived or ever will live - here.

Lord over angels and demons, over thrones and powers and principalities, over structures and governments and natural laws.

Lord over every person and place in the invisible worlds.

So go tell everybody. Help them understand who's at the top of the food chain. Get them learning my Ways and following me.

Baptize them in the name of the Father - who sent me, and from whom I've received my authority - and the Son and the Holy Spirit - who empowered me to claim and to demonstrate this authority and who will also help you to enforce it.

All of you should live like me, with my Spirit inside you to help.

And, as you do , you can be sure of one thing: you'll never be alone. I will always be with you through the power and the presence of my Spirit, until this season of conflict and corruption ends, and all the darkness of sin and Satan has been obliterated, and things are once more the way they were originally intended to be in the beginning.

Boom.

review: the seraph seal

I LOVED this book.

Over the years end-of-the-world scenarios have become cliche. We all got a good scare out of Damien, and everyone enjoys munching on a little popcorn during the summer disaster movies, but it's been a long, long time since anyone put on their thinking cap and wondered 'what if none of those cliches held?'

Seraph Seal follows a basic formula, but in a new way. The protagonist is a pedestrian academic - think Dan Brown, here - but he gathers a crew of would-be world-savers to assist him in avoiding Armageddon. Working together, this collection of well-drawn, interesting characters is more reminiscent of a caper film (Ocean's 11, the Rat Pack) than super-hero team; but the action never stops and you find yourself caught up in a myriad of plots and sub-plots, intrigue and nuance.

For those who like religious-themed fiction (end times, book-of-Revelation, stuff) there's plenty of that here. In fact, Sweet's work is far more biblically credible and theologically consistent than any of that 'Left Behind' babble. The book could be a master's level study in symbolism and hidden meaning, and the careful reader will be rewarded over and over again with gems subtly woven into each chapter (actually, onto almost every page).

So, if you like great characters, a well-constructed plot with multiple-layers, and want to imagine a new way in which the world could end (or not!), this is the book for you. The Omen, meets the Da Vinci Code, meets The Italian Job.

prayer for america

this is hilarious. i was asked to pray for my country today at the national day of prayer. i'm not usually comfortable in those scenarios, so i took some time and prepared. through a few hours of prayer and reflection i was able to pen something i truly feel and deeply believe.

only en route to the event did i discover my error. i had been asked to pray for my county, not my country.

i fessed up to the audience, telling them that perhaps god's providence could work through my stupidity.

who knows?

here is my prayer for america, the one i wrote by mistake:

Father - you are good. there is none higher, none better, no one who compares.

Yours is the name above every name.

You are the King of kings,

the Lord of lords,

and True God above all gods.

You tell us if we ‘remain in you, and your words in us, then we may ask for anything and it will be granted.’

Well...I’m asking.

I’m asking for an America I can be increasingly proud of

because I see us acting, collectively, to heal the world.

I’m asking to turn on the television and feel blessed every time I see our flag or hear our song.

I’m asking for opportunity for those who try,

who believe,

who dare,

who suffer,

who endure,

and who refuse to wallow

or wane

or be wasted in this life.

I’m asking for a place that feels like home to the world.

Safe.

Energetic.

Full of promise and hope

for those victims of despair and deceit,

hopelessness and broken promises.

I’m asking for my President to continually grow as a man of peace.

I’m asking for my government to be dominated by competent idealists

and self-sacrificing men and women

who roll up their sleeves,

put on their own pants,

and stay until things are put right.

There is no heaven for America - we are a country, not a soul - but I want to believe America can be heaven-on-earth for those who are tired of living in hell.

I want to believe there’s something worth fighting for:

Hospitality. Integrity. Virtue.

Justice. Hope. Peace.

And I want to believe we are, in fact, fighting for those things

and not for power, position, or profit.

Lord - I believe. Help me with my unbelief, as I co-operate with those who have sacrificed to make this the land of the free and home to the brave.

Amen.