The Doctrine of Christ

Some of the greatest doctrines ever given

From our Father above who lives in Heaven

Are written so simply and pure

And the simplest of all is to endure

We trudge through this existence each day

And suffer what reverses come our way

We fight with despair and trial and sin

And are often tempted to just give in

But God has not left us by ourselves

Nor placed our lives upon His shelves

To be glanced at on occasion

But reaches us with the Spirit's persuasion

He tells us that we must pray to Him

To love Him and forsake all sin

In humbling ourselves in this way

He promises to be with us through our days

He also tells us that we must feast

Upon His word - daily, at least

For therein can we find the power

That will sustain us hour by hour

We may feel that we are alone and weak

We dare not pray or ask or seek

We doubt ourselves and our poor state

We fear, we fail, we learn to hate

But these things are not from God

Who raises us from this mortal sod

To a higher sphere of love and grace

And holds us in His arm's embrace

He sent His Son to pay the price

His love is thus displayed in a trice

And all he wants is for us to love Him

To follow his ways and abandon all sin

This is what makes us happy, anyway.

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Ephesus

Paul got around. Ephesus is right on the Aegean Sea, on the coast of present-day Turkey. Yesterday he was in Galatia, which was much more towards the middle of Turkey. And when he actually wrote these letters, he was in Rome... So the man could travel. He probably walked. Today's item of interest comes from chapter one in Ephesians. Verses 18 and 19 are particularly interesting: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power This is not the first time Paul talks about an inheritance. In Galatians he talks about the inheritance that comes of being part of the Abrahamic Covenant. He notes that we are joint-heirs through and with Christ. In Ephesians, he uses the word "adoption" - that we are adopted as the Children of Jesus Chris...

Engaged

Three Dog Night got it wrong. One is not the loneliest number. They were more accurate when they said Two can be as bad as one. I really wonder how people can survive Without being fully engaged. How they live through each day Without the intimacy I so very much crave... Maybe I am unusual in my desire To have this intimacy, To want to feel that soul So close to my own Sharing light and warmth, Sharing love and passion, Sharing life. Alas! Alas! Alas! For when I do seek to share It is often only to be rebuffed Denied Or used up, Sucked dry, And left an empty husk. I want SO MUCH to share And all I have is the cold, digital world Of typing out a blog.

The Other Art

I'm not sure we appreciate photography as much as we do other art forms. Part of this comes from the reality that surrounds and permeates a photograph - it's very, very real, and the photographer strives for clarity and crispness in the representations. Perhaps this is why black and white images continue to be relevant - they strip away extraneous information (color) and leave us with something that is at once familiar and also non-existent - for nothing exists in black and white. Nothing. I also think that pictures are becoming too common-place... Everyone has a camera in their pocket, and while that's a very democratic thing (everyone can express themselves in a picture easily and readily, and can find an audience for these images, which are casually taken and casually viewed, and perhaps just as casually forgotten) I think that we embrace that casual attitude, and it spills over to all aspects of the media, making it impotent. So I read this article this morning: h...

The Sublime Roundabout

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