Category Archives: Christianity

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What is Man?

There is a place between the intellect and the heart–a fence, as it were, that divides the greener sides of faith and truth. There are those who would have us believe that our feelings justify our faith, that if something feels right then it must be right; and there are those who would have us test everything, defend everything, rationalize everything we claim as true. I think maybe both have valid points (and I’ve certainly claimed both at different times in my life). But I think there’s a compromise between the two.

I think there must be. If something could only be called “true” if we were able to absolutely prove it beyond question, then we would never believe anything. And conversely, if something could be called “true” by the mere emotion we feel, we would believe anything. The two must balance each other.

But there’s something more. There is something deeper than our brains and our hearts. I’m not sure what it is–kidneys, perhaps?

Last night, after a long and difficult day, I stood on the back deck, breathing deep of the cool Autumn air and gazing upon the starry host that God has given us. Sometimes when I’m silent, I think I can hear them declaring God’s glory. And it reminds me how small I am. How insignificant. Just a speck of dust in this great existence God has called into being.

And it humbles me. It brings low the importance of both my intellect and my emotions. It brings low my pride in thinking that I might claim to “know” anything about the Keeper of the Worlds. What can man truly know? What can man truly comprehend of a God who is altogether separate from everything else we can know?

And in spite of our tiny-ness, our inability to rightly comprehend Him or serve Him, He has given the full measure of His love for us. Not only has He loved us, but He has loved us with an everlasting love, and set us just a little lower than the heavenly beings. He has crowned us with glory and honor.

What is man that He is mindful of us?

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

Psalm 8:3-5, ESV

Perhaps we try too hard to justify what God speaks to our souls. Perhaps the question is not whether we can prove a thing, or whether it feels right; rather, perhaps the question is whether we can recognize the stillness of God’s voice as He speaks to us through shooting stars and Saturn and the Milky Way. And when He does–will we accept it, deep within us, where neither knowledge nor emotion are valid proofs?

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Bellies to Fill

I have always loved Rich Mullins, but this song has really been on my heart the past few days.  A few superficial mentions:

  • Nice shorts, Rich. Seriously?
  • I love that 12-string.
  • Did you see that little boy at 2:14?
  • Who walks and plays guitar at the same time?
  • I love the Thai part at the beginning.

Less superficial mentions:

  • I want to go to Burkina Faso and meet Joseph.
  • He has really made my life richer in ways I cannot express.
  • Are you sponsoring a child through Compassion International?
  • The idea of missions both terrifies and stirs my heart. It always has.
  • “There’s many bellies to fill and many hearts to free.”
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If I Hadn’t…

If I hadn’t left the Church in 2001…

  • I would not have learned to study Scripture (as opposed to simply reading Scripture);
  • I would not have learned to defend my faith;
  • I would not have drawn on the musical and doctrinal strength of hymns;
  • I would not have joined Tweb–which means I would never have made a few poor choices, but also means I would never have connected with those friends who appeal to my inner theology geek, or stumbled upon the phrase, “the theology of music”;
  • I would not have fought with Jenny;
  • I would not have forgiven and been forgiven by Jenny;
  • I would not have become such sister-friends with Colette;
  • I would not have known Jack, except as an acquaintance;
  • I would not have grown confident enough to say, “I have forgiven him;”
  • I would not have written that novel, or those poems, or those songs, or those letters, or those blogs.

The list is endless. There are so many things in my life that would be different today if I’d settled myself and not questioned my faith. I won’t lie to you: Some of the results are not as wonderful as those listed above. To be honest, some of the results still shadow my heart.

But I no longer regret that time in my life. I see it more every day, that even in my richest folly, I was in the hands of a sovereign, gracious, faithful Lord, who knew exactly what evils my choices would result in. And somehow, those evils that were conceived in my own frustration, my own sin, Christ has birthed into passions and ministries and relationships that I never would have known if I’d “just believed.”

So would my life have been better if I’d not failed? Perhaps. But perhaps I would have made other choices, worse choices, irreparable choices. Who knows? Only God knows. And only God still knows what good He may accomplish through my life. But I do not regret–I do not mourn–the choices I made yesterday.

There is a Redeemer. So yes–repent of your sin; turn from your folly; bring your contrite heart before the forgiving Savior. But trust in Christ. Trust in His ability to restore what the worm has eaten. Trust in His desire and purpose to do just that.

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Passive & Submissive

What’s the difference?

More specifically, what’s the difference for a Christian?

passive: receptive to outside impressions or influences; lacking in energy or will; induced by an outside agency.

submit: to yield to governance or authority; to yield oneself to the authority or will of another; to permit oneself to be subjected to something; to defer to or consent to abide by the opinion or authority of another.