Ode to a New Fridge

It needs no fiery dedication,
It has no moldy insulation,
No sealing issues with a door,
Hooray! Our new refrigerator.

Quoting Satan

Have you ever seen this bumper sticker?

Well, I'm reading Paradise Lost right now and I keep thinking that this quote is going to pop up somewhere. Satan gets way more words in Paradise Lost than he does in the Bible, so if it was going to be anywhere I would guess that it would be in Milton's work.

I imagine the quote going something like this:

"Whence and what are thou, execrable Shape,
That dar'st, through grim and terrible, advance
Thy miscreated front athwart my way
To yonder gates? Through them I mean to vote pro-choice,
That be assured, without leave asked of thee."

Of course in this passage "vote pro-choice" is a simple indicative, not the imperative that the bumper sticker would have you believe. But I think that the people who thought up the bumper sticker aren't all that concerned with context.

Oh, and I don't think that any pro-choicers are going to be dissuaded of their current position because someone's car was garnished with a made-up quote from Satan designed to lambaste their beliefs. That's just silly.

Good Friday

For his life not he begs,
On a cross, unbroken legs,
His back, my stripes,
His death, my life,
For Christ, he drank the dregs.

The Second Coming

We have been studying the book of Revelation in our Sunday School class. Consequently, I have been thinking about final things a lot recently. This weekend I stumbled across a Yeats poem that I found to be interesting and relevant.

In the aftermath of the first world war, Yeats saw an apocalyptic meaning behind the current times; he postulated that something very soon was coming that would supplant Christianity. Therefore he wrote "The Second Coming" which is (as best I can tell) a poem about the coming of the Antichrist. The poem is rich, drawing from many sources, but I was struck by the parallels with a modern day novel seemingly crafted after Yeats' work, Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men (which gets its title from another Yeats poem, "Sailing to Byzantium").

Anyway, here is the poem.


The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Love the Lord Your God: Luke 11:38-42

Invited in a home abroad,
Receiving all of Mary's laud,
And even in a Marthan vex,
Disparaged not her own sex,
But instructed love for God.

Tulip

Rebekah and I have a favorite flower. The tulip.


Here are the reasons why I love tulips:

1. Tulips are a symbol of new life. When I was young my mother would plant tulips. In the springtime they would pop out of the ground telling everyone that Spring had arrived. New life arises in the Spring just like in our spiritual lives: God calls us from wintery death to spring-like life through Jesus Christ.
2. Tulips spring from the ground like Christ sprung from the grave. And both are celebrated in the Spring.
3. Tulips--as already noted--come in the Spring. Spring is my favorite season.
4. The "Doctrines of Grace" are easily remembered by the acronym TULIP.
5. Bonus reason: Resident Thorns Poet, Jordan, just made this up,

One lip,

Tulips,

Three lips,

Four lips.

I hope you love tulips too.

Someday Soon

Someday soon my tongue will tell
Of Earth made black, each tree fell'd,
Nothing seen but endless mire,
All consumed by holy fire.
The heaving ground, void of mirth,
An iminenet child birth.
The moon ceased to be the same,
Shower'd the ground with crimson rain;
The sun had fall'n from the sky,
In the fiery lake it died.

From above, a mighty sword
Drawn and weilded by my Lord.
Moving swiftly down He cut
All the wicked in their glut,
But passing o'er those He wrote
In His book, whom have His coat
Of righteousness giv'n that day
A Pure, Holy Lamb was slain.

Then a beast who prowl'd the land,
The blood of saints on his hands;
Suicidal, on he pressed,
Rank with death and human flesh.
Then my Lord took heed of him
Tearing children limb from limb.
Silence; then into His chest
Drew the deepest of all breaths.
The murderer could not fend
'Cause the exhale was his end.

And then looking side to side
I stood amidst His blameless bride
Chosen before time began
In line with His perfect plan.
A boy's cancer was remiss,
His mom's blind eyes witnessed it.
The lame man ran as he pleased,
His wife had no heart disease.
Pain had ended, sorrow ceased;
No one suffered in the least.

Then my Lord whose back was striped,
With His pierced hands tears were wiped
Away from those He called home
Whose lives were saved with His own.

Fridge Poetry

Resident Thorns poet, Jordan, composed this masterpiece on my refrigerator.

A Two Cent Quatrain

For those of us who just finished our college career many brutal questions pose themselves. Uncertainty is the turkey on the thanksgiving day table of the college graduate. Will someone please put this into perspective?

Enter my fellow NDSU grad, Jordan:

Freedom, in Grace

Where to live?
Where I can work.
Why work,
When I can live?

Thank You, Rebekah

About a month ago my lovely bride-to-be wrote me a poem. What a blessing she has been!

Psalm 25:15, For Caleb

All Grace is given to the sinful soul
From Jesus – the atoning sacrifice.
Oh! How His brokenness will make you whole,
His mercies are new after every night.
The child with feet all tangled in the net
Must only fix his gaze above his plight.
For Jesus will be seen and he’ll be met
Cut free from bondage – carried by His might.
Why is all grace given at such expense
That Christ – who knew no sin became as such?
It’s for His Father’s sake and nothing hence
Will mar His Glory; Jesus made it much.
He will not leave us in our broken state,
His desire for God’s Glory is too great.

I love this poem for three reasons:

1. It references one of the most encouraging verses in Scripture: "My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net." -Psalm 25:15
2. Christ is the primary actor and the subject of the poem. Man is being acted upon and is secondary.
   
3. The final couplet states "He will not leave us in our broken state/His desire for God's Glory is too great." Christ was completely subservient and obedient to the Father because He knew that it was for the Glory of God. By Grace we become the beneficiaries of this wonderful truth.

Thank you, Rebekah!

For My Future Wife: 2 Samuel 12:1-15

My roots are weak,
The soil is dry,
To speak of this
Shows how I

Wander about,
My eyes too low,
Longing for blaze,
Settling for glow.

Oh! the day
Unbridled be
Together, yet no
Forgone purity.

I took a lamb
From the poor,
My company
I slay it for.

There is a man
Who does the same,
I revile him
And curse his name.

In my folly
I scorned the Lord,
In spite of this
Out He poured

Means of grace,
Human means.
From shadows,
And night it gleans

New life. Grace,
A lamp well lit
Ignores me painted
A hypocrite.

A heart like David’s
Depraved and flawed,
Needs a Nathan
To seek after God.

Chirst-Exalting Poetry

I believe that God is exalted in art. It is a gift from Him and should be given back to Him. Art is essentially worship and is a great way to express the glory that has been revealed to us. I would challenge you to not view art as a waste of time. Many of us live in a very goal-oriented environment where only practical, result-driven activities consume our day. Lay them aside for a few moments and pursue the Lord through Christ-exalting art in your life.

Here's a place to start. I found this poem posted on the Desiring God blog. It's called Luke 18.25. Enjoy it. I believe God is glorified in it.